


Making it up as we go along

by The_Black_Smith



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Gotham Academy (Comics)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Rating May Change, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:53:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27984132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Black_Smith/pseuds/The_Black_Smith
Summary: With a determined Maps trying to find the Batcave, Damian is assigned to stop her by Bruce. There are hiccups all along the way and unfortunate introductions to the rest of the Bat family in his attempt to keep Maps at bay while tensions grow between Maps and the club.Will Maps be able to figure it all out? Can Damian stop her?Or will something worse befall them both?[Not good at summaries]
Relationships: Mia "Maps" Mizoguchi & Damian Wayne, Mia "Maps" Mizoguchi/Damian Wayne
Comments: 18
Kudos: 38





	1. The Set Up

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [I'll Figure You Out](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5048152) by [PrideandPadawans](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrideandPadawans/pseuds/PrideandPadawans). 



> I absolutely love the idea that PrideandPadawans had for their story and couldn't help but borrow it for this story. Full credit to them for the idea. Please go check our their story! This is my first posting of a fanfic and I do not have a beta reader for this.  
> Please enjoy!

*

“So, we’re not having a club meeting?” Olive asked.

Her and Pomeline were standing in the doorway of Maps’ dorm room. Katherine was relaxing on her bed looking over at Maps who was packing up her iconic yellow backpack, dashing back and forth grabbing necessary items for her ‘solo mission.’ Pomeline cleared her throat loudly, startling Maps into dropping a folder she was preparing to pack. It hit the ground and spilled out its contents; pages upon pages of notes, descriptions of sightings, and hand drawn maps with rough geometry scribbled over it spilled across the floor, most having doodles of Batman drawn on them. Olive picked up of one of the sheets that skirted over to her feet.

Looking at it closely, she then gave Maps a quizzical look, “What’s all this?”

Pomeline sighed, “Isn’t it obvious? Maps is going Batman hunting.”

“I think I finally got it down!” Maps exclaimed, scuttling about picking up the scattered papers. “I’ve narrowed it down to a two-mile radius on the mainland coast! It overlaps a vacant plot of land and the Wayne Estates but I’m sure they won’t mind me searching around their property for a cave.” She scrambled to Olive and plucked the paper out of her grasp and shoved it into the folder, dashing back to the yellow backpack. “I mean, it’s not like I’ll be searching around their house or anything so it shouldn’t be soo bad. I mean I could always talk to Damian about it, though it has been awhile since I’ve last seen him. Plus he’s kind of a jerk-“

“Maps, this is a little ridiculous don’t you think?” Olive placed her hand on her hip and tilted her head towards Pomeline, “Right Pom?”

Pomeline crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, “Why should I care if she goes trespassing on some rich snob’s home? Just means I get more time this weekend to read up on my spells.”

“Pom!”

“What?” She leaned against the door frame looking over at Maps, “Like I could stop her from doing this. And it’s not like anything mystic or creepy is happening right now for us to go, like, detective around for.”

Katherine chimed up quietly, “I-I think it’s a nice idea. I wish I could come…”

Olive eyed Katherine, clearly not in agreement with her opinions on the matter, but Maps got in the middle of direct sight cupping Katherine’s face. “OH MY CRAP! Would you like to join me, Kathy?!”

Pomeline and Olive both stared, slightly bewildered. Katherine was not one to put herself out there, let alone going on adventures with them, but many things have changed since the first semester when she met them. Katherine still comes off very timid but has grown relatively close to Maps. With her flustered face in Maps’ hands, she gulped.

“Um, I don’t think I can join you…” Katherine frowned. “As much as I want to, I don’t think I could keep my form.”

Maps gave a quick glance over to the fishbowl on the bookshelf before defeatedly sighing and nodding her head, “No, I get it. I’m happy that you want to join, if you could.” She stood up straight, patted Katherine’s shoulders, and smiled brightly. “Maybe in the soon-to-be future you’ll be strong enough to stay together and join me on amazing adventures!”

“Maps, this is crazy! You’re not even allowed to leave the campus for the weekend!” Olive stepped in to block off the entrance to the hallway from Maps.

“I’m out. She’s going to do what she wants with or without my input. Bye~.” With that, Pomeline left with little more than a huff.

“Pom! Please, back me up here.” Olive turned to Katherine, “And you, please stop encouraging her to do this. The last thing we need is Maps getting into trouble, it’s already going on six. Even if you reached the bus at a reasonable time, you wouldn’t get to the Waynes for another half hour!”

“There’s nothing wrong with adventure! New school year, a new experience! Don’t listen to her, Kath, she still doesn’t like Batman.” Maps winked at Katherine before finishing her packing.

Katherine curled up further into her bed, “I wouldn’t be too worried, Olive. I know she’ll be safe, and if she isn’t, she’ll let us know.” She gave Olive a weak but assuring smile.

Maps hefted her backpack on, headlamp in one hand and what looks like rope in the other hand. “Believe in Kathy, Olive. I’ll be fine! I have my cell phone on me, Batman will be out tonight as well as Robin, and I heard Red Hood is somewhere in the Bay Side area-“

“And where did you hear that from? Also, he’s a lunatic”

“Through the grapevine!” Maps exclaimed and she inspected herself before approaching the window, looking out over the courtyard into Gotham. “I’ll be fine Olive, and I’ll be back before….. ten’ish!” She pushed the window open suddenly, startling the other girls, “Wish me luck!”

“Maps!” Both girls shouted as Maps grappled the rope on the edge and leaped out into the air.

They both went running to the sill to witness her slide down relatively effortlessly towards the ground before landing hard against the gravel with a audible ‘ouch’ escaping Maps’ mouth. She whipped a wave through the rope, dislodging the hook from the sill, sending it down to the ground where Maps quickly grabbed it up and darted away, crossing the drive and diving into the bushes disappearing from their sight. Katherine slunk back into her bed as Olive drooped down, arms slung over the edge of the sill exhausted. Suddenly, Olive’s phone started ringing. She took it out of her pocket and looked to see who was calling.

It was Maps.

Olive quickly answered, “Maps! What the hell? Are you at least ok-“

“I’m fine! I have plus four dexterity and plus two strength! Just wanted to remind you, don’t tell Kyle! He’ll be pretty mad if he knew I ran off tonight. I’m counting on you! See you later!” With that, Maps hung up on Olive.

Olive sighed and turned to Katherine, “… Can you help me with keeping her out of trouble?”

\--

Maps finally arrived at the Wayne Estates, trudging out of the sparse woods to the far south side. She figured that the manor itself was guarded heavily but not the far-out area. She had already trespassed before on it to talk with Damian (that ended up being one of the coolest nights EVER as she got to handle a Katana and watch her jerk friend kick butt with an ancient staff) so it wouldn’t be so difficult to get onto the property if she needed to.

“There’s about 1250 acres in two square miles. I can cover about two and half acres about every week, if I don’t have projects or homework, and if I do that every week, with the exception of the summertime where I can cover roughly ten acres a day, sooo that leads to about 60 acres a week. Got’to have one day off from this for a break, then that adds up to about 720 acres over summer break with the school year adding to…about…80 acres… sooo this should only take one and half years!” Maps thought out loud.

Though not the time limit she would like, it’s better than stretching it out to something like 7 years. _Work with determination and purpose!_ Maps cheered herself on.

For the next two hours she walked along the east side of the property, peaking in bushes, looking behind rocks, and jumping into ditches in hopes of finding even a small crevice that would open up into a cave. Nothing, absolutely nothing came up that night. She dragged her feet all the way back to the bus stop, texting Olive that she was heading back, disappointment laced in her message. There was hope that Maps would find it that night, but luck was not on her side.

This went on for the next night and the one after that with no success, though she did cover more than she predicted. Feeling somewhat defeated this night, Maps flopped on her bed facedown and passed out, begrudgingly waiting for Monday morning to resume her boring school schedule.

\--

Bruce stared intently at the large screen of his computer in the cave, his eyes wavering back and forth as he watched the same clip over and over again. He tapped his fingers a few times along the console then leaned back, a stern frown on his face. Alfred approached the computer, planting himself next to Bruce with a tray of coffee in hand. He arched an eyebrow and peaked at the screen before looking back at Bruce.

“Should I be concern for you, Master Bruce, or is there something terrifying about this young lady walking around the premise?” He bent his arm down as to allow Bruce to grab the mug handle and retrieve it from the tray.

“You don’t think it’s strange for a girl to be out this late, walking back and forth along my property lines, Alfred?” He took a sip.

“Though somewhat out of the ordinary, I find it more concerning that you are repeatedly watching the footage. Distracted, are we?”

Bruce paused the video midway through. “I’m sure I’ve seen her before… I just can’t seem to place a name. It doesn’t help that she’s moving through the tall grass where I can’t see her clearly.”

“Should I make an appointment for the outside perimeter to be trimmed, sir?”

“Hrnn.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He folded the tray under his arm and turned to return back to the main floor of the house, “Do try not to fixate so much on the tape, sir. Sleep would do you much better than staring at the still image of a rambunctious teenager.”

With one last look at the fuzzy picture of the girl, he closed his program and resumed work on more immediate cases at hand. She would stick around much longer than he would expect.

\--

It had been a couple of weeks since the first sighting of Maps on the Wayne property. She had shown up almost every weekend since then, with only a few days missed here and there. Though she had yet to do anything throughout her outings besides walking back and forth, her presence was slowly starting to eat away Bruce’s patience. Surprisingly she was very elusive, always staying close to the ground through the thicket of the bushes and grass, and because she had not posed a threat, he hadn’t released Ace out to chase her off, less she actually get hurt by the dog.

Unfortunately for him, the Falcones and the Penguin have been committing a string of financial crimes, wiring funds through more legal ways than he had anticipated while Scarecrow had been going through with seemingly random sting operations, thus taking up most of his time as well as Damian’s since some of these crimes over lapped. He even had to recruit Red Robin recently to handle Scarecrow’s antics. Not only was Batman busy, but so was Bruce Wayne; he was trying to secure his own funds from becoming a part of The Penguin’s plan as he had attempted to snake through some much smaller and finer assets not directly connected to Wayne Enterprises or his other main LLCs.

For the third time that evening Alfred had brought him coffee, and a small part of him felt like he was becoming his son who seemed to thrive off the liquid drug. As Alfred walked up the staircase to the clock entrance, the very same son, Tim Drake, came briskly down giving Alfred a curt greeting before reaching the cave floor, moving past the Robin suit displays and was about to past Bruce entirely until something caught his eyes. He came to halt and looked fully at the computer screen where Bruce had yet to close the window that had the girl paused in frame. Bruce could feel that Tim was staring and was just about to exit out of the program when Tim made a noise signaling him not to do so. Bruce swiveled around to face him.

“Do you recognize her?”

“Yeah.” Tim moved closer to the screen, “Yeah, I know her. Not personally, but she was the girl who almost got me in the head with one of our very own Batarangs.”

Bruce’s eyes became fine slits. “What?”

It certainly was not phrased like a question as it sounded closer to a threat. It had slipped Tim’s mind at the time to mention that to Bruce, especially with the Robin war and everything going on. There was so much happening that it wasn’t something he had bothered bringing up as he had assumed that she was trusted with it in some way.

“I figured she was one of us at the time,” he shrugged before looking back up at the screen, “though I remember that yellow clip. At the time she was wearing an Academy uniform, probably still goes there considering how young she is.”

Suddenly it clicked, and Bruce swirled back around to the computer so quickly it had startled Tim. Bruce pulled up a search bar and quickly typed something then pressed enter. After a short pause on a loading screen, a picture of a white haired, olive skinned girl showed up. Below her was, what looked like, a professor and below that a picture of the very girl they were looking at in the security tapes. Mia Mizoguchi, second year, start of second semester. It had been awhile since any trouble came from them, which was good to hear considering the unfortunate circumstance with the Silverlock girl, but the memories were flowing back now. His brows furrowed and he leaned back into his chair.

“Are you sure it was one of ours?”

Tim stepped forward again to secure himself next to Bruce before speaking, “Yup. Definitely one of ours, but now I’m not sure how she got it. There is no way Dick would have given her one, considering how far away from the whole situation he was. Steph and Barb wouldn’t have given her-“

“Tim.” Bruce interrupted.

“Yeah?”

“Get Damian.”

Tim, a little startled, nodded and walked off towards the training facilities on the sublevel below to retrieve Damian. A few minutes passed before Bruce could hear grumbling from further down the cave. It was a typical argument between the two but soon it came to complete silence. He heard the footsteps come closer before halting behind his chair.

Cold sounding as always, Damian spoke up, “You asked for my presence, Father?”

Bruce pulled up Maps’ school photo large on the computer. “Do you recognize this girl?”

His young face was stony, not much could be read from his expression. “Yes, I am familiar with the Mizoguchi girl. A complete child if you ask me.”

“I’m not asking your opinion about her.” Bruce’s own tone was unsettlingly serious. Damian didn’t show his concern but could feel it well up in his chest. Right as he was about to speak up again, Bruce spoke, “I’m asking about your knowledge of her. Did you meet her during your _short_ time at the Academy?”

“Father, I don’t under-“

“Did you meet her at the Academy?” Bruce repeated himself.

“Yes, I did-“

Bruce cut Damian off, asking curtly, “And when you met her, did you spend a prolonged period of time together?” His phrasing was strange, but it was the only way Damian would answer straight forward.

“Not by choice, but we did.”

Finally, Bruce turned to face his son entirely and Damian could witness the full Batman grimace without the cover of the cowl, clearly aiming his disgruntled attitude at him. Damian was not easy to unsettle, but he did not want his father’s disapproval, either. There was an uncomfortably long stare down before Bruce continued.

“Did you, by any chance, give this Mizoguchi one of your Batarangs right before your departure from the school?”

Confusion shown ever so slightly through Damian’s hard expression. He wasn’t quite sure why this was such a heavy matter to his Father. “Yes, I did. It was… a parting gift.” Bruce didn’t speak up and his stare did not waver, clearly pushing Damian to say more. “… I had maintained her standing within the Academy as they were all too willing to end her attendance there, though the situation she was put in was not her fault in anyway. After parting, she had chased me down to give her unending gratitude for what I had done for her, while also spouting ridiculous things about how she had a ‘great adventure’ or something foolish like that. In return I gave her a Batarang to show her that there were no grudges held against her.”

Bruce rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, restraining himself from an outburst. “… You gave her a Batarang? As a show of no hard feelings between you two?”

He could sense the emotion of the atmosphere and knew something was off. “Clearly, I should not have?”

“Of course, you shouldn’t of!” Bruce stood from his chair and towered over Damian, “Do normal people usually have high-tech titanium alloy Batarangs on them wherever they go? Do you have any idea how much you compromised in giving her that? What else happened in that one day that could’ve revealed your identity as Robin? Tell me.”

“Father, I do not think you understand, this girl is a child! Completely idiotic!”

“I don’t care what you _think_ she is. I care about what you’ve done.”

Neither backed down.

Damian resumed his stern expression before speaking again, “We were placed in an unordinary circumstance that required tools outside of regular civilian guise. I refuse to take back what I have done, even in retrospect. Despite the fact she is extremely juvenile, even she could recognize that my actions were necessary.” The last sentence was meant as a jab towards Bruce’s overprotective stance.

Clearly, he did not know this girl like Damian knew her. She is absurd, nonsensical with her actions, disgustingly and childishly vengeful ( _I mean, who licks another person’s hand! Repulsive!_ ) and is all around narrow minded when it comes to anything besides her own interests. On top of all that, she can’t seem to connect blatant clues together to form functional theories. For all her ramblings about Batman and her interest in becoming the next Robin, she never once questioned Damian how he obtained the grappling gun and the Batarang, Maps just assumed he was somehow Batman or would daze out while staring at the object in hand. She did not even question how he was so knowledgeable in martial arts and weaponry.

Frustration clear on Bruce’s face, he sighed and sat back in his chair, still staring down his son. “You compromised not only your own identity but also mine. You’re incredibly lucky that she hasn’t made that connection and just accepted it at face value.” He swiveled back around to face the computer again. “You’re being relegated to this. She is your problem now. Go handle it.”

“What!” Damian eyes widened.

“You heard me, Damian,” Bruce closed the Academy windows on the computer, “You will no longer be on missions and your patrols will be limited. This is your problem. Take care of it.”

Damian took a rebellious step toward his Father before raising his voice, “We have much more important things to do! There is no need to waste my valuable time on this- this infant! This is outrageous! It’s not like she could ever figure it out, and even if she did, it’s not like anyone would believe her-”

Bruce looked over his shoulder making eye contact with his son, “It’s not about believability Damian, it’s about security. Life isn’t fair, get over it. Now go, I have to see if I can get in touch with Duke or Stephanie to handle the slack.” He turned back to the computer.

Shoulders tense with anger, Damian pivoted on his heel and marched towards the clock staircase, quickly mumbling, “-tt- The least you could do is get Grayson…”

With that, he was gone.


	2. A Close Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyle makes a short unexpected visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to rewrite this because the original version came off too forced, so hopefully this is enjoyable for you dudes.

**

Maps quickly ran around the room, packing her usual items in her iconic backpack before getting ready to hop out the window. Pomeline was sitting on Katherine’s bed watching Olive follow Maps around trying to convince her to stay in for this one night. All Pomeline could do was roll her eyes as she watches the young girl wave Olive away while grabbing her rope and hook and hopping to the windowsill. Olive was on the brink of begging, but Maps simply placed her finger to Olive’s lips, forcefully soothing her worries. From there, Maps escaped from the dorm, again, for the third time this week.

Olive and Pomeline were looking out watching her dash across the pavement into the bushes when a knock came from the door. Olive jumped and startled Pomeline in doing the same, earning Olive a glare. She mouthed a ‘sorry’ while Pomeline rolled her eyes.

Olive asked, “Who is it?”

“It’s Kyle. Mind if I come in?” Kyle stood outside the door stiff and nervous.

He felt that there was some strange tension growing between him and Olive again, or so he imagined, and it was getting to the point where he had to see if everything was okay between them. Returning the notes he had borrowed from Olive earlier that day was a good excuse to go see her this evening. Kyle knew she was usually in Maps and Katherine’s room at this time so he would have to find a way to get Olive alone.

Pomeline and Olive traded glances before rushing around, closing the window and scrambling to clean up the dorm room, trying to cover up the fact that Maps just left.

“One moment!” Olive announced.

“I just wanted to return your notes... and check up on you guys,” Kyle said from behind the door.

Olive gave Pomeline a strained look, trying to communicate for her to jump in.

Pomeline sneered before shoving some papers under Maps’ bed, “Maps ain’t here.”

“What? Pomeline?” They could already hear the confusion in his voice.

Olive face palmed before rushing to the door, opening it right before Kyle could grab the doorknob. “Yeah, Maps needed to go grab something from her locker. She’ll be back soon.”

 _At this hour_? Kyle thought as he cocked an eyebrow. He asked not fully convinced, “Did she leave a while ago? I feel like I would’ve seen her on my way here.” He paused for a moment then added, “She's not doing any exploring, right?”

“Nope, nope. It’s just been a while. I’m sure she’s coming back soon, right, Pom?” Olive looked back at her.

Pomeline seemingly ignored Olive, tapping something into her phone. “Yeah, sure.”

“I’ll just give her a quick call, then.” Kyle began to search for his phone in his pants pocket.

“You don’t need to do that!” Olive grabbed his hand.

He stopped and looked at her, eyes wide and at a loss at what to do. It had been a while since they last held hands, a sudden reminder of past feelings. Not that Olive planned to have grabbed his attention, but it happened none the less, and Pomeline could see all this emotional ham from the bed. The way they were staring at each other, anyone could tell that they had history. Quickly Olive retrieved her hand and mumbled an apology while Kyle took his hand away and rubbed the back of his neck with it, not quite sure what to do.

“Uh, so, why are you here Pom?” He asked.

She sighed and said irritated, “My superstitious presence was requested by our _dear_ club leader.”

“Oh.” Kyle replied then turned to Olive, slightly awkward, “Uh, here. Thanks for lending me your notes. They were helpful.”

Olive took her notes back, also a little awkward. “No problem. I’m glad I could help.”

“Uh, yeah.”

The restless tension started to grow and spread through the room. Pomeline, not wanting to be a part of it, cleared her throat and caught their attention.

“She’ll be here soon.” Pomeline swung her legs over the edge of the bed and got up. “Just texted her.”

“Oh, good.” Kyle said.

Olive was trying to tell Pomeline to stay here through her gaze, but Pomeline seemed to ignore Olive and walked past them into the dormitory halls. All Olive could do was silently strangle out a sound before facing Kyle again, who was giving her a questioning look.

“Um, just a girl thing,” Olive lied.

“… Uh-huh. Mind If I come in and wait for Maps?” Though Kyle was concerned that Maps may have escaped the campus, considering how tired Maps had been for the past couple of days, he really wanted to take advantage of this time to talk with Olive.

Olive stumbled out of the way, allowing him access to the dorm room. Kyle walked in and wandered around Maps’ side of the room, examining it causally. Olive closed the door and plopped herself down on Katherine’s bed, not exactly sure how she should feel as Pomeline didn’t explain anything and left her completely unprepared with the situation. On top of that, Olive was now left alone with Kyle in an emotional limbo, and she hadn’t quite figured out how to deal with these alone times with him just yet.

Kyle seemed to be in a similar boat as he kept fidgeting with his pockets.

“Olive,” he finally speaks up, “I just want to say, again, thanks for the notes.”

“Again, no problem. You make it sound like I wouldn’t help you.”

“Well, its not that you wouldn’t. I-I just appreciate it.”

“No thanks needed. We’re friends, of course I would help you out.”

 _Friends_ , how that word still haunted him, even after so long of being apart.

Kyle faced her and finally built up the courage to address this awkwardness he felt, “Look, Olive, is there-“

He was interrupted when the door swung open, and there stood Maps in the doorway. Olive bolted up right while Kyle spun around to face Maps.

“Hey Maps. Glad to see you’re not getting into any trouble.” Kyle stiffly said.

“Oh yeah. I’m fine. Very tired.” She sounded exhausted and robotic; jarring compared to her usual manner.

Kyle furrowed his brows in concern, approached his sister and asked, “Are you okay? You sound… not like you?”

“I’m very okay. Just super tired. Right, Olive?” Maps glanced over at Olive.

While looking at Maps, it finally occurred to Olive exactly what was going on. The person in the doorway was actually Katherine in the shape of Maps, as her acting was completely subpar, and she really needed Olive’s help right at that moment. Olive sped over to her side and wrapped her arm around _Maps_ ’ shoulders, leading her past Kyle to the bed.

“Yeah, she’s been very busy, running around all over the place today.” She released Maps so she could lay down in bed as Olive walked back to Kyle and leaned into his ear, whispering, “Plus, it’s a girl thing making her so tired.”

Kyle’s face slightly paled, though he still didn’t seem fully convinced, was also not willing to question such a thing. “Ah, ye-yeah, I totally get it.”

Olive walked him to the door, saying, “She’ll be fine tomorrow morning. It’s just hitting her kind of hard tonight.”

“No, no, I get it.” Kyle began leaving before calling out to Katherine’s disguise, “Text me if you need anything, okay? I’m just one building over!”

With that, Olive thanked Kyle and closed the door, herself exhausted and sliding down it until she was completely collapsed on the ground, a heavy sigh escaping her. Katherine immediately began transforming back to her original form.

Suddenly a knock came back from the door.

When Kyle was shut out of the dorm, he was disappointed that his opportunity was cut short with Olive, but he also suddenly realized, _I didn’t see Katherine_. His suspicions started to grow again and that’s when he knocked.

“Hey, is Kathy there? I don’t remember seeing her.” Kyle’s voice came from the other side of the door.

“Ye-yes. Well, no. She’s with the professor right now.” Olive lied again while trying to calm herself.

“Oh. Making sure.” There was pause then he continued, “Anything we need to be worry about?”

“Nope. Totally fine. Just some tests. She should be back soon too.”

Katherine tried to regain Maps’ shape but was so worn out that it only produced a surreal amalgamation of Katherine and Maps likeness put together before completely giving way to a clay puddle on Maps’ bed.

“Okay then. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Kyle said his goodbye and left them.

Olive watched as Katherine’s clay blob plopped down onto the ground and slithered across the room as Olive dropped her face into her hands, saying, “Oh my god, she totally owes us one. That was too close.”

Katherine stretched up into the bowl, finally relaxing comfortably loose in the glass fixture before looking over at Olive, “I agree. Pomeline texted me saying, in so many words, that Maps needed cover.”


	3. A Suggestion For Your Frustration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred gives some unwanted advice to Damian. Maps gets it and pisses Damian off more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was also inspired by another writer, Ulrich007, who is in the process writing a great fanfiction with Maps and Damian. Check out their story, "The Mysterious Boy and The Girl who loved Mystery".
> 
> Clearly, I have no original thoughts of my own. I apologize for that.

***

Another argument occurred between Bruce and Damian.

The boy had stomped all the way to his quarters and then slammed it closed. He made it clear he wanted to be left alone but Alfred approached the heavily embroidered wood door leading to Damian’s room none the less. In the beginning he was not about to get in between Damian and his reclusion, less Alfred become a pommel horse by the cruel boy. But after an hour had passed, Alfred thought it was about time for his usual helpful appearance. With a tray of fruit slices in hand, he gently knocked listening closely for a disgruntle noise to come from behind the door, letting him know it was okay to enter.

“What do you want?” Came Damian’s infuriated voice.

“Master Damian,” Alfred spoke, “I brought some snacks in hopes to bring you out of your mood.”

The door swung open, Damian looking very displeased. “If you think sliced apples and oranges will bring me from my ‘mood’ that my Father has so eloquently bestowed upon me, then you live in a fantasy.”

Before Damian could think about closing the door on Alfred’s face, the butler had swiftly snaked into the room and moved next to the boy’s desk where he placed down the tray and turned to face him. “And what did your Father ‘so eloquently’ bestow upon you? I’m certain it is not as bad as you are making it out to be.”

“It is! The preposterous idea, I can’t- ugh!” Damian kicked hard into the air, “Who does he think I am! I, the blood son of Bruce Wayne, true heir to the mantle, trained by the League of Assassins! I am not some-some child-“

“Master Damian.” Alfred’s voice interrupted his rant, “You have to tell me what he said. Leading into your various titles does not help me understand whatever happened between you and your father.” He walked to him and placed a gentle hand on Damian’s shoulder. Though the boy shrugged off Alfred’s hand, Damian followed him to the chair by the desk and sat down when motioned to do so. “Tell me what happened, without the added cheek, Sir.”

Damian arched an eyebrow before returning to his scowl, “-tt- Father took me off of our current cases to handle a trivial plight of his, which could easily be solved with Ace.”

“I’m sure he has his reasons not to use the family dog to solve his problems.” Alfred momentarily dusted something before continuing, “What is this ‘trivial plight’?” He slid the tray closer to Damian, who took a slice but didn’t eat it.

“He… He assigned me to handle that stupid Maps girl walking around our yard! Ridiculous! Why can’t he send Drake, or do it himself? Just because she is a child does not mean I should be sent out there! I am far more mature and far more effective in the field than whatever this is!” Damian shoved the entire slice into his mouth and furiously chewed.

Alfred was slightly perplexed and asked, “Maps girl? Is… Is that her name?”

Damian squeezed his eyes shut then answered, “Mizoguchi, whatever! No, that is not her name! She calls herself Maps.”

“Oh… Oh!” Alfred’s face brightened slightly as something came to mind. “… And how do you plan to approach the issue, Master Damian?”

Damian launched from his chair abruptly, fists clenched, “I am going to walk up to that insipid child and tell her to get off my property and to never return, less I call the police and get a restraining order against her! Then I can finally get back to the real issues plaguing this city.”

 _Childish indeed_ , thought Alfred as he walked over to the boy.

Certainly, Damian was too angry to think of any other solution, especially those that would be far more appropriate and socially acceptable compared to his first choice. This was an opportunity in disguised, and Alfred knew it. Damian knew the girl, even mentioned her by her preferred name (though he would most likely never make that mistake again if ever pointed out) which means that they are at least in good standing. He had misplaced his anger with Bruce onto the poor girl and Damian thought his time was being wasted.

For Alfred, there was now a reason for him to push Damian to practice his ‘mingling skills’, something he greatly lacked that Bruce did not. The boy was extremely skilled, and bragged much about it, all except in that area, and Alfred was planning on turning this around into a tediously long learning session.

“… May I make a suggestion?” Alfred asked.

Damian scuffled, “-tt- Do I have choice in not hearing it out?”

The older gentleman rolled his eyes before speaking, “Try not to take your frustration out on others who are not at fault.” Damian was about to speak, but Alfred continued, “She didn’t take you off the cases, you father did. I believe you should turn this situation around, take advantage of this time… My suggestion is to practice some furtive ‘data’ collection.” When no retort was made, he went on, “Approach her skillfully, as though you are just a regular teenager. Maybe a quaint visit to say hello could start the ball rolling and get her to explain why she has been wandering around the grounds. Or, if that is too forward for you, might I also suggest that you could send her a message, see how she is doing.”

Damian sneered at him, “What? Why would I ever do that?” He yanked off another fruit slice from the tray. “I don’t intend her to come back ever into my life again! She dragged me all over that damned Academy! Kept going on about some magical feather, something about the ultimate power team or whatever, and she is all too eager to jump into danger without a second thought! If she had an infinity for guns, violence, and revenge, I would almost say that she herself could be the offspring of that stupid ape, Todd!” He was really reaching with his distaste for her, but had no intention of taking it back. Then another thought came to him, “… Granted, her hobbies at least include some useful things like cartography and investigation… And a strategical fantasy game. Better than Todd’s pointless interests.” He finally chowed down on the fruit slice in his hand.

This was honestly shocking for Alfred to hear. He had assumed that it was maybe a strange passing between the girl and him, but evidently, they had hung around long enough for Damian to get a grasp on some of the girl’s hobbies and personality. He had to make his proposal final for this to hopefully work. The boy had very few friends and to have one that was simply a civilian would certainly be good for him.

“Ultimately the choice is yours… But I believe that this would be of great use to you as well as to show your father that you are far more responsible than he believes you to be. Take this and show him that you can do great work both in the uniform and out of it. It will serve you better to do so, as well as help in future endeavors, even if you don’t think so now.” Alfred patted him on the shoulder and started for the door, but added before leaving, “It took your father several years to act like a normal socialite. Took him decades to simply be sincere with those he called friends. I’m sure with your advanced training, you will catch on far faster than him. It would be silly if you couldn’t,” and with a small jovial laugh, Alfred left, closing the door behind himself.

Damian plopped himself back at his desk and grunted. He knew this was a trick, Alfred was being very convoluted with his point and he wasn’t going to fall for it. He wouldn’t! He ate a couple more fruit slices before fretting with one of the fountain pens on his desk… _How ridiculous…_ _Damn that Maps_ , was his final thought before eating the rest of his fruit.

\--

Maps was lying face down on her bed, exhausted with how everything was going. A couple of weeks have passed since her first outing and still nothing. She was becoming tired with her search for a cave opening and it was becoming harder to stay out as long as she’d like; Maps’ was certain her brother was getting suspicious. Nothing can deter her from this, especially with all the work she’s put in so far, but it was becoming tedious.

As she continued to mope into her pillow, the door opened and Katherine came walking in with mail in her hands. She shuffled over to Maps’ bed and cleared her throat, holding out an eloquently pressed letter to her. Maps rolled her head to the side to see the paper in Katherine’s hand.

“What’sit?” Maps mumbled.

Katherine placed it next to her pillow before speaking, “It’s for you, I think? I’m not very good with cursive…” She went back and sat on her bed looking at the fliers that they got.

Maps sat up quickly and grabbed the letter, eyes skimming over it. The envelope is directed to ‘Miss Mizoguchi’ and the raised lettering on the paper had the Wayne insignia along the lip. She passed her fingers over it before tearing it open haphazardly. The expensive piece of stationary slid out and she unfolded the letter to read.

_Greetings and Good day Mia Mizoguchi,_

She immediately had a sense of who it was writing the letter. The pompous precision and the overdone address, it seems a bit surreal. Maps continued reading further, skimming over the exceedingly written parts to get to the main point of the message.

“Yadda yadda yadda… feel honored… blah blah… Ah! Here! _My primary reason for sending this letter is to see if you would be interested in congregating this upcoming weekend, preferably at my home. Respond promptly as I do not like to be kept waiting_ \- and he lost me again with his attitude.” Maps tossed the letter over her shoulder onto her bed as she jumped up to her desk to grab a notebook and pen. “What a dork.”

“Who is it? Are-are you going to go-“

“Ab-sol-freaking-lutely! And it’s Damian.” Maps interrupted Katherine. “I get invited to the place I’m lurking around, that makes my search so much easier! Plus side, he’s a multi-billionaire, probably has a built-in frozen yogurt dispenser somewhere in his house!” She then thought to herself, _And not to mention his arsenal basement! I can’t wait to see that again!_

Katherine made a concerning noise before talking again, “There’s something about him that seems off…”

Maps was practically jamming her pen into her notebook when she looked at Katherine. “I mean, of course there’s something weird about the kid! He’s got no chill, is a complete jerk, and on top of that acts like a complete know-it-all when he doesn’t know anything! BUT that doesn’t mean he isn’t cool… in his own not-so-fun way.” She tore out the page and fold it up. Maps whispered with a hint of awe in her voice, “He knows Karate…”

“Are you done already?” Katherine asked.

“Oh please, like I’m going to write an essay just to talk to him. I mean, look how much he wrote just to invite me to his house,” Maps said as she lifted Damian’s letter for Katherine to see, the whole decorative paper filled with writing. “Why would I do something like that! Besides, my talents lie with puzzles, maps, team-skill building, and of course, jumping straight into action!” For the last point, she held up her arm around her face as if hiding it with an imaginary cloak. “Oh! That reminds me!” Maps quickly scribbled something onto the page then ran off, speeding through the door with a quick bye to her friend.

Maps heard Katherine call for her to come back but she was on a mission. Running down the hallway, she figured she had enough time to dash to Colton’s hideout and get him to hotwire a car and take her to the Wayne estates.

_Forget using the postal services like a snail! I can just shove it into his mailbox directly!_

If she sent it by mail, it could take up to a week to get to his house when it’s maybe a 45-minute round trip by car, even shorter than taking the bus. _If there’s no traffic_ , she thought to herself as she skidded around a corner and leaped down the staircase, narrowly avoiding students. Last Maps heard of what Colton was doing, he was getting that Warren kid some fireworks so they must be just arriving at his hideout in the woods. Running down the rest of the stairs, she came to the ground level and burst through the exit doors getting a face full of crisp Gotham air. Despite the weather getting warmer, there were still a few more cold weeks coming up. Maps dashed across the yard and rounded the West Wing to head straight into the woods.

_Sure, we’re not allowed in the woods, but they couldn’t catch me even if they tried. I’ve got plus two speed with a bonus modifier when filled with determination!_

Maps arrived in time to see Colton and Warren exiting the rusted trailer and she waved violently to get Colton’s attention. She saw him lean into Warren saying something into his ear before the young boy went darting off back to the campus.

“Colton! Cooolton!” Maps came bounding, leaping at him and ensnaring the young teen in a tight hug.

“Whoa, whoa! What did I miss?” Colton’s eyebrows raised in confusion.

She looked up at him with the best puppy dog expression she could muster, “Colton! I need your immediate help! I know I’m asking for a huuuge favor here, but I really need it! And if you help me, I will totally get something from the Wayne kid that you could use in your tinkering stuff!”

His sunglasses slid down his nose a little in confusion, “I- what? Wait, what are you asking for exactly? This sounds like a huge favor… like a last-minute huge favor…” Colton freed one of his arms so he could push up his sunglasses.

“… I need you to jack a car and drive me to Wayne Manor so I can drop off this letter.”

A long pause passed between them before Colton shouted, “You’re kidding me, right! You want me to wire a car so you can drop off a note at the brat’s place? I was held up in that kid’s mansion by Two-Face!”

“Yeah, but that was the past and I bet I can totally get whatever you ask for! We won’t even be going to his house, just a drive-by mailbox drop-off!” Maps was begging.

He pondered for a minute, then asked, “… Anything I ask for?”

“Anything!”

\--

Damian was perched at the large quartz island in the kitchen as he quietly munched down on his lunch. Since Bruce took him off the cases, he had more free time than he knew what to do with. Training was always good, but he can only train so much before he starts wearing down his muscles (though he wouldn’t mind doing that, Alfred seemed to have a large issue with it). Damian had to fill his time with other things; drawing only goes so far and playing Cheese Viking when on punishment is not very enjoyable. He was starting to regret sending the letter through the mail as it was not the fastest way to communicate, but he didn’t want to see her during that time personally at the Academy, nor would he have a good excuse to be there again. He couldn’t hack simply to retrieve her phone number as that wouldn’t make any sense either. As he was finishing his last bite, Alfred came waltzing in, coming up to the island and laying out the mail.

He eyed Damian before returning to the mail. “I do believe I have something for you, Master Damian.”

“If it is another one of those frivolous invitations you can toss it with the rest of the recycling.” He began to clean up his dishes when Alfred came over and placed a folded notebook page next to him. “What is this?”

“You do have two eyes, do you not Master Damian?” The butler turned back to the rest of the mail and began sorting it out.

“-tt-,” Damian turned over the folded paper to reveal his name written on it in quick and careless handwriting. Somewhat stunned, Damian looked at Alfred then back at the letter, “… I should have expected the cheap lined paper, but I did not think she would take my prompt suggestion seriously.”

Maps obviously didn’t mail the letter, it’s not in an envelope and it arrived right about the same day his letter should have been received by her. He unfolded it, shielding it partially from no one in particular, and read through the very short and curt letter.

_Hi Damian! I’d love to hangout this weekend! I’ll sneak out of my dorm super ninja-like. BTW here’s my number, no need for the sloth mail, weirdo._

Scribbled below it was something else. It was a little difficult to make out, but Damian was able to decipher it.

_Answer it and I’ll give you something awesome! Why was 6 afraid of 7?_

Alfred watched the boy from the corner of his eye and saw his furrowed brow become arched than furrowed again. He saw Damian squint his eyes and move the paper closer before freezing for moment. The silence was very heavy in the kitchen before Damian slammed the paper on the island, clearly frustrated.

The boy burst, “What sort of inane question is that! And what could she possibly have that I could not obtain myself! How dare she call me weird when she is clearly the one abnormal!” He hopped out of his chair with paper in hand, forgetting his dishes, and began marching out to the hallway, still loud enough for Alfred to hear. “There is nothing wrong with hand-written mail, the handle and care that go into them- something she apparently has no appreciation for! I wager she didn’t even read the entire letter!”

Alfred heard his rant fade the further he went into the manor. He was not one to be nosy when it came to personal mail for the occupants of the house, but curiosity hit heavy this time as he was sure there was hardly much written on that loose-leaf, at least from what he could feel through the sheet (the girl wrote with a heavy hand). As Alfred put the mail away and grabbed Damian’s left behind dishes, Tim dressed in part of his Red Robin costume came wandering into the kitchen, a query expression upon his face. It was apparent that they had crossed paths.

“Did I miss something important? Did he get in trouble again with Bruce?” He walked over to the coffee pot and pour himself some.

Alfred closed the dishwasher then replied, “I believe he is voicing his frustration over this upcoming Friday.”

“What? Why? What’s happening Friday?” Tim took a sip then asked, “Is there a Gala that I forgot about or something?”

“No Gala, Master Timothy. Master Damian has invited a ‘civilian friend’ over and seems to be… flustered over the response.”

“What could they have possibly responded with to make him that heated?”

“I believe she said yes.”

“… How does he have friends?” Tim took an exceptionally long sip before suddenly stopping and whipping his head around to face Alfred. “Wait, did you say ‘she’?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am going to try and start pacing it out, but I'm very excited that people seem to enjoy it.


	4. It's Been So Long And All You Want Is Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The weekend finally comes along and Maps is ready for the challenge while Damian just wants this whole ordeal over with.

****

Maps was very anxious through the rest of the week, hopeful and fully expecting Damian to call or text her at any moment but sadly, nothing came. She knew he was odd and kind of stuck up, still she was really looking forward to talking with him before meeting again especially after over a year of not ever hearing from him. To get a little warmed up to Damian’s attitude before fully immersing herself within his presence. Maps can handle his snooty attitude; she just wanted some taste of his personality again before being stuck with him for however long the hangout lasts. It has been well over a year since they’ve last seen each other.

There’s also the added fact that she just hasn’t seen him. How has he changed? In Maps’ head, he was still a short hot-tempered boy who couldn’t hold his tongue. She can’t imagine that he has changed drastically, if at all. Trying to picture Damian as tall, broad, and calmer just made Maps dizzy with laughter. None the less Friday came, and she was packing up her things to head out. She needed to be prepared for anything that came up, especially since she fully planned on persuading him to go exploring in his yard for caves.

Katherine was on her bed already preparing herself to shift as Maps’ doppelgänger for when the actual Maps sneaks out. She was not a huge fan of Maps sneaking out all the time, but she certainly didn’t want her getting caught. It was starting to tire her out more so than usual, yet Katherine had to try hard, for her. Just as Maps was getting ready to creep out, there came a knock from the door. Katherine changed back and Maps dropped her backpack to the ground and dashed to her bed.

“Maps dear, are ya there?” Professor MacPherson’s voice came through.

“Yeah, I’m here!” From her bed Maps rushed to the door and opened it. “What’s up?”

“Yer ride is here.” MacPherson smiled softly at her.

“My… my ride?”

“Yes, yer ride to the Wayne Estates is here. I didn’t realize ya had a been invited to accompany young Damian to view historical maps for donations to the Academy! Why didn’t ya let me know?”

Maps was stunned and could only mumble out a simple ‘yeah’ before being led off by her professor, giving a strange look to Katherine before the door shut on her. _Maybe I should have read that letter all the way through_ , she thought to herself as MacPherson went on and on about how amazing it was that Maps was getting along with him, that this was a great addition to the Academy, how she knew that they were good together, and so on. Before Maps knew it, she was outside on the stairs with the professor telling her to have a good time. There in front of her was a sleek black limo with an older chauffeur awaiting her arrival. Just as she was walking down the stone steps, Maps realized she left her backpack in her room.

“I’m so sorry! I totally forgot-,“ she was about to explain to the chauffeur but was interrupted by a shout from behind.

Katherine came running through the grand doors, “Maps! Maps! You left your bag!”

“Oh my crap, Thank you sooo much!”

“Just be careful, I don’t trust that boy…” She gave a weary glance and passed her the yellow backpack.

Maps hoisted it onto her back and trotted off to the limo, saying, “There’s nothing to worry about! I’ll see you later!”

Katherine rubbed the back of her hand awkwardly while she watched Maps.

Maps came to a halt in front of the chauffeur and held out her hand. “Hi there! Thanks so much for giving me a ride to Damian’s!”

He looked at her hand quizzically before gently shaking it then opening the car door for her to enter. “The Pleasure is all mine Miss Mizoguchi. My name is Alfred Pennyworth, and I will be servicing you back to the Academy after your gathering is over.”

“Sooo cool! Oh! You can call me Maps, just Maps is fine.” She smiled brightly as she climbed into the limo.

“Very well.” He closed the door and proceeded to the driver’s seat.

As Alfred closed his own door and started the car, Maps jumped forward to the front of the limo and perched her head on the window edge that separated the driver from the rest of the vehicle. She stayed there for a second before suddenly spouting off everything on her mind.

“So, Mr. Pennyworth, are you just the driver for the little demon or do you drive all the Waynes? I heard there are more than 3 Wayne kids, is that true? How much do they pay you or are you like some sort of rent out? We have hired maids to clean up our house, but they only come once a week, and that’s if there’s anybody home, since mom and dad are usually abroad doing something boring. We never get to go along. Does Damian get to join his dad on business stuff? I assume so since he doesn’t seem to go to school like the rest of us. Is he home schooled? What’s that like?” She came to an abrupt halt, starry eyed in the rearview mirror.

Alfred glanced up then back to the road. “My, you sure are a curious one, aren’t you Miss Maps.”

“I’ve been called worse,” small laugh escaped her.

“I apologize, I did not mean to make it sound like an offense. Curiosity is good to have, especially for a young and bright lady such as yourself.” Alfred smiled back through the mirror. “The young master has told me about some of your interests and I’m quite impressed.”

She made a silent ‘oh’ before asking, “He talks about me? I knew he wanted to be friends! I’m irresistible! Plus three charisma.”

“As for my occupation, I have been in service of the Wayne family since Master Bruce was an infant and I take great pride in it. It is an honor to serve for them and-“

“Even serving for Damian?” She interrupted.

“Even serving for Master Damian. He has some… flaws, but he is good intentioned. I understand the struggle to handle him, but it is truly worth it, I believe.”

“Mmm…” She thought to herself then spoke up again, “Yeah, I think so. Maybe lose the cold shoulder but for sure is worth as a friend. Have you seen him practice fighting? It’s pretty awesome!”

“I have indeed. He is quite the perfectionist.” He glanced back then mentioned, “I’ll give you a small hint Miss Maps; the young sir has a soft spot for animals.” There came a gasp from the back seat. Alfred was sure if he looked back again, she would be glowing. “But let us keep this little secret of ours. He would be… embarrassed if he knew I told you.”

\--

Damian was becoming irritated with the mirror, feeling as if there was some sort of trickery happening. There wasn’t, and he knew it, but somehow nothing he put on was right. Alfred had suggested that he wear something more casual than a Robert Talbott peacoat over a Kiton cashmere turtleneck with custom tailored Napoli slacks. He hadn’t really given it much thought at first until his butler brought up the issue. He was going overboard for someone who doesn’t think twice about their appearance and he was not going to give her the pleasure of something so ridiculous.

 _Something casual_ , he thought angrily and tossed the shirt he was wearing now over the foot of his bed, grabbing another one from his closet and fitting that on. Damian fidgeted with the sleeves while frowning and again was not satisfied with how he looked.

“Aww, little Damian is growing up so fast. Trying to dress right for your little _friend_?” Came Tim’s mocking voice from the doorway.

“Go to hell Drake, preferably by my hands.” Damian expertly pitched one of the tossed shirts at his head.

Tim brushed it aside and said, “When will you drop the whole ‘I’m going to kill you’ phase. Besides, after your failed attempts on my life, I deserve some brotherly teasing of you.”

“We are only brothers by legal means, and you deserve nothing. If you ever try to pester us while we are here, I will personally-“

Tim cut him off, “Calm down, calm down. I’m not going to crash your dumb hangout-“

“It is not a hangout-“

“Whatever! I’m not going to bother you guys. I’ve got other important things to do tonight, like patrol. I was just curious as to what the reason is for inviting this ‘friend’ of yours? I’ve seen Jon around here, but that makes sense. All your other super powered friends that you have hang outside of the house. Alfred told me to keep it on the downlow because she’s an actual civilian. What’s up with this one?” He leaned on the frame.

Damian snapped, “It’s none of your God damn business! Now get out.”

Tim shrugged and started to walk off, only to say one last thing before disappearing down the hallway, “I’ll figure it out either way. Besides, just because I’m gone tonight doesn’t mean you’ll be alone.”

The boy sneered before turning back to the mirror, looking over his ‘casual’ look when suddenly interrupted again, this time from the manor’s grand doorbell. _Of course, she rings the doorbell instead of waiting for Pennyworth_. He slipped on some slim leather dress shoes before taking off to the great foyer where Alfred had just arrived at the door.

Maps had insisted that she be dropped off at the main entrance, against Alfred’s wishes since it would require him to go park the limo in the garage then go through the house to allow her in at the front door, forcing her to wait for him. Maps reassured him that that is exactly what she wanted to do as she had never experienced the grand walkway of the manor before and it would be great sightseeing for her. Reluctantly he did so. Now at the entrance, Alfred answered the door. Damian could hear them from upstairs as he approached.

“My apologies Miss Maps, I didn’t realize you were going to run all the way to the entrance. I was hoping you would enjoy the scenery while coming to the door.”

“Oh, I did! Just reeeally quickly! Ya know, I’ve only ever been here at night, it was pretty cool!”

“Pardon?”

Right as Maps was about to tell her experience here while fighting alongside Damian against Two-Face, the boy quickly parkoured down the stairs and interrupted their conversation, “Excuse my lateness Pennyworth, I did not realize she was going to give you a difficult time.” He noted her usual school uniform with the added leggings underneath the skirt. _Of course, I spend too much time and she doesn’t even think twice about it._

“Oh, Master Damian. On the contrary, her presence has been very pleasant. Now that you are here, I shall fetch you both refreshments.”

Maps eyes shone with excitement. “Oh, oh! I’ll have-“

“Oolong tea. For the both of us. Thank you, Pennyworth.” Damian cut her off.

“Heeey!” She made a face at Damian and bumped her shoulder hard into his, knocking Damian slightly off balance as she raised her voice, “Mr. Pennyworth sir, I will NOT take tea and will only drink fiercely delicious lemonade if you have some! If not, I’ll take a Capri Sun! Thanks!”

The gentleman nodded his head and walked off, leaving the two alone in the foyer.

“-tt- Child.”

“Says the kid!” Maps nudged him softly before continuing, “Soooo what’s up Damian? Long time, no see! Now you’re as tall as me! That’s a surprise. And it looks like you got a new haircut since last year- it suits you! Also, totally didn’t read your letter, but that was a great excuse to get me out of school without me having to sneak. Thanks for that!”

Damian didn’t acknowledge her comments, his expression stony as he spoke, “It was not an excuse Mizoguchi-“

“Maps.”

“Whatever. Even if you didn’t read my letter, I do fully expect you to join me in looking over several significant plans and drawings. This was not to be a simple ‘hangout’ as everyone likes to keep putting it.”

“Oh whaaat? We’re not actually going to be doing anything interesting? What is this tom foolery!”

Damian began to walk, clearly expecting her to follow. Maps tagged closely behind while admiring the various paintings and artifacts strewn around the hallways. It was hard to remember where she was exactly in the house last time she was there. It was so dark and intense; she only remembered the general location of things. _Maybe if I were here at night, it would come back to me_. While tailing Damian, she neglected to pay attention to what he was saying until suddenly he called for her attention.

“Maps, have you been listening?”

“Yeah, yeah. Totally! I just didn’t catch the last thing you mentioned… which was…?”

Damian’s stare weighed heavily on her then he snapped back to walking, this time with very little talking. While the guilt began to burden Maps the longer he didn’t talk, all Damian could think about was how to get her to start talking about her unwelcomed searches on the estates. He was planning on using the old prints and drawings as a way for him to get her around onto the subject. All Maps thought of was how she should’ve listened a bit more closely. As she was about to apologize, he stopped abruptly causing Maps to walk into him. Damian gave her a menacing look before calming again.

“-tt- We’re here.”

“Here where?”

“The collections room. Originally it was the smoking lounge; however, since no one in this household smokes it was converted to something more useful.” He walked in with Maps behind him. “As you can see, this room holds many artifacts dating back hundreds of years. Many of the display cases that you are seeing now are temperature and humidity controlled to help preserve these precious pieces from decaying any further.” He walked to a relatively long glass table display where several maps have been laid out inside. “Knowing you have a personal interest in cartography, I saw to it that you would come and see them firsthand, to deem whether they should join the antiques held at Gotham Academy.”

Maps was on the verge of trembling; the amount of history and mystery behind each one of these objects was starting to overwhelm her, but she regained her focus again and peered closer at the maps in the glass. There were five large pieces laid out inside, four of which she could tell were hand drawn, while the other was a print from what looks like the eighteen hundreds. She started to daze again, getting lost within the extraordinary detailed lines and labeling before something occurred to her.

“… Why didn’t you just get a pro to look at these? Like, the curator at school? Not that I don’t appreciate looking at these amazingly, beautiful, top of the top, awesomely gorgeous maps.” She wanted to touch them so badly.

Damian was silent for a moment, not able to think of an excuse on the spot. Thankfully, Alfred came walking in at that moment, a lemonade and tea on the tray for them. He set the tray on the coffee table where both teens gathered around to attend to their drinks. They sat across from each other as the gentleman grabbed the tray, turning to leave. Before Alfred was about to exit, he asked if Maps wanted to hand him her backpack to hang at the front closet.

“Oh no! I’m good! I brought a bunch of things for Damian and me to do… but maybe I should have read his letter since now I know I’m here on ‘official duty’ for the school.” She sighed, leaning her head on her hand.

Damian tutted her before Alfred spoke up, “I don’t see why Master Damian can’t relax a little and enjoy your games before diving into work. He has no other business lined up for tonight.” He left before Damian could retort.

“Maps,” He said, warning in his tone, “I invited you here with specific-“

“And I came here to hang!” She dumped out the contents of her bag onto the floor.

Out came notebooks, folded papers, pens and pencils, various objects and crafts, as well as tools, one of which caught Damian’s eye. He knew she had a heavy interest in mapping but never thought she would carry one of those around with her, especially since it would have little use in the city. Before he could point it out, Maps had grabbed a heavy book and shoved it into his hands.

“You have to check this out!” Her voice filled with glee. “This was something that Robin personally left for me! He made me go on this huge chase just to give this to me! It was ah-mazing!”

In his hands was the limited-edition version of Serpents and Spells, the one he personally got for Maps last summer. Of course, she doesn’t know that, but it was weird to see it in his hands again, or really, in Damian’s hands and not Robin’s.

“I know how much you looove strategy and this game would be perfect for you to play, if you can get over being super antisocial and care to join people.” Before he could respond, she shoved one of her notebooks on top of that book, “Or we can discuss some mysteries I’ve been noting. They aren’t too huge but it’s just some stuff I’ve been noticing around the halls back at the dorms. Oh! You can come back with me and join me in the walls of the dormitory!”

She was about to suggest something else when Damian inquired, “Maps. I am curious about something you have possession of.” She waited expectedly as he put down the books and grabbed the object in question, “Why do you own a sextant?”

 _Oh yes, my plan! How could I forget?_ Maps thought as a huge smile graced her features. “Well duh I own one of those! I like mapping stuff, why wouldn’t I have one.”

He stared through the eye piece of it and examined the quality, “Because you live in the city-“

“Excuses to not own one is what I’m hearing from you.” She stood up, walked around the coffee table, and planted herself right next to Damian, lemonade still in hand. “You see, Damian, your house is in this perfect location where you don’t get a lot of the city light pollution or smog, lots of open space, starry night above your head,” Maps leaned onto his shoulder as to try and eye down the sextant’s scope with him, “nice weather out tonight, no adults to stop you from exploring or controlling what you do-“

Damian jerked away from her touch, his shoulder getting uncomfortably warm from her touch, and grumbled, “What are you getting at Mizoguchi?”

“We should go exploring around your huge yard!” She blurted out.

\--

When Bruce called Dick for back up, he didn’t expect that it was because Damian was put on the benches for some unexpected consequences. Bruce didn’t tell him in full detail about what had happened, but Dick could piece together that Damian did something to shake Batman’s confidence. He agreed to help on one condition; he got to visit Damian first before taking on any cases. Bruce was ready to argue the condition, yet Dick was steadfast on his decision and pointed out that the boy probably needed some guiding right now that Bruce couldn’t quite offer at the moment. Dick knew Bruce loved Damian, but he wasn’t always quite sure how to handle the parent-child situation so would approach it more with Batman’s style.

Dick arrived at the manor that evening, going through the servant’s entrance. He had startled Alfred as he was putting away the freshly made lemonade.

“Sorry about that Al.” He patted the man on the back in comfort. “Gotta say, lemonade during this time of year? Kind of unusual, especially for you.”

“As much as I appreciate your concern, Master Dick, the lemonade is for a guest we have at the moment.” He grabbed a glass of water and drank it, trying to calm his startled nerves. “I do hope you try not to scare me like that again. I’m not growing any younger.”

“Again, sorry about that, but who’s here on a Friday night that wants lemonade? Bats and Red are out right now, and Damian is basically grounded.”

“Not grounded sir, simply removed from the current cases.” Alfred corrected Dick. “He was not forbade from inviting guests over.”

“Oh? Is Jon over then? That makes sense now.” Dick got his own glass of water, slightly parched from long drive.

“No, sir. A young lady who goes by the name ‘Maps’ Mizoguchi. She is a friend from the Academy that Damian attended last year.”

Dick stopped mid-drink and looked at Alfred. “… You mean the Academy he was at for one whole day before getting expelled?... He made a friend there in one day?... Like, a regular, no power, no secret identity, plain ol’ friend?” The butler nodded and Dick continued, “A regular, no power, no secret identity, plain ol’ friend who also happens to be a girl?”

“I do not see why everyone seems to be focused on that aspect, but yes.” Alfred sighed and went back to his usual evening duties.

Dick chugged the rest of his water and placed the glass in the sink before turning to the older man, “Where are they right now?”

“Is that a wise decision, Master Dick?”

“Sometimes you have to toss out wisdom to witness something nice, Al.” He flashed Alfred his famous charming smile.

“… The last I saw them, they were in the old smoking lounge, sir. I had mention that Master Damian had no other plans for tonight so they should take advantage of their time. He does have a tendency to take matters quite seriously.”

“Thanks! Catch you later,” Dick waved and walked out into the hallway.

His hands casually placed in his pockets and strutting along the halls, Dick turned the corner and walked into the dining room heading towards to the open grand foyer. Dick wanted to wonder what this friend of Damian’s must be like as he glanced at the passing paintings and chattel, but the manor brought back nostalgia of his time here when he was a kid. A look at the chandler brought back memories of him jumping from the staircase railing to the hanging light and all the trouble he got in with Alfred. Moving into the foyer and glancing at the grand doors, he could remember bursting through it at the end of the school day and being ready for a night out on the town patrolling with Bruce. Smiling at the thought, he briskly moved into the den and another memory came to him, one about how his friends would come over and relax with him on a school night by the fireplace. Thinking about his own friends, Dick’s mind abruptly went back to Damian and his friend.

 _Must be someone strong, maybe a little stand-off’ish like himself. Or maybe an overwhelmingly kind and gentle personality, with the patience of a saint. I shouldn’t even try to imagine what they’re like. I’ll see them soon enough_ -, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard something come from down the hall where the old smoking lounge is. As he closed in on the door, he heard a noise with what could only be described as someone in pain. Quickly he yanked open the door and burst into the room to witness his little brother standing with his arms crossed, a perturbed look on his face, and a girl’s body lying on the ground whining.

“Damian, what did you do?” Dick sounded more accusatory than he meant to.

The sight of Dick at the door startled the boy out of his mood, but only for a moment as he regained his normal coldness again when he spoke, “Nice to see you too, Grayson. I have done nothing. _She_ is acting like a child.”

Dick mouthed a silent ‘what’ before the girl on the ground spoke up, “He’s acting like a spoiled brat! I’m the guest and I would like to go out for a little bit before we have to do wooork,” she groaned.

“Stop calling me that! We have business to attend to and the only one being troublesome is you. Night is falling and you want to go out into the darkness and wonder around, for what? Left behind coins or something?” Damian tried to get an answer out from her but to no avail.

“It’s hardly sunset and there is nothing wrong with adventure if you just let it happen.” Maps took a deep breath to continue arguing but suddenly sat up, eyes wide staring at Dick. He was taken aback by the rapid change when she spoke again, “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” She hopped up and ran to him, hand out while she introduced herself, “My name is Maps Mizoguchi, Damian’s school friend, you can just call me Maps. Are you one of Damian’s brothers? It’s so nice to meet you!”

Dick composed himself quickly before shaking her hand. “It’s nice to meet you too, Maps. The name’s Dick Grayson, I’m Damian’s brother… If he allows me to say that.” He added the last part with a wink and Maps smile grew bigger.

“This is sooo cool! Damian, why didn’t you tell me that your bro was going to visit?”

“He came unannounced.” The boy stated flatly. “I intended this meeting of ours to only be us two.”

Dick piped up, “Aww, you don’t need to keep your friends to yourself, you know. I’m sure the whole family would like to meet her, Little D.”

Suddenly, a look of terror befell the boy’s face as he looked over at the girl. Dick didn’t catch on until Maps let a giggle escape and realized his fatal mistake.

“… Would you like to go on an adventure, Little D?” She spoke with teasing malice in her tone.

Dick tried to hide his smile as Damian’s expression changed from terror to fury, his face gaining a slight pink hue from the intense emotions.

“Mizoguchi…” His own tone was threatening but it did not deter the girl.

“Come on, Little D! It’ll be nice out and there’s hardly any bugs… Little D-“

“Stop that!”

“REVENGE! Not until you agree to go out with me, Little D!” She hopped behind Dick, fiercely sticking out her tongue at him.

Damian came walking forward, tension growing with each step until Dick laid a comforting hand on his shoulder stopping Damian in place. Dick moved out of the way and placed his other hand on Maps’ shoulder and gripped them both tightly.

“Let’s take a minute and cool it, take a drink, all that jazz.” Dick had this charm to him to calm just about anyone and both teens seemed to relax. “See? Let’s all be chill.”

It was quiet as Damian and Maps looked at each other awkwardly. After a few moments she walked past him, grabbed her lemonade and drank some; Damian followed suit. Dick watched on, waiting for something to happen.

Damian spoke up first, “… I suggest a compromise; we will go outside for a half hour-“

“Hour.”

“Half hour-“

“45 minutes.”

“Fine. We will go outside for 45 minutes and in return you will never refer to me by that name _ever_ again.”

“Done!” She offered her hand in cheerful agreement.

Dick grinned, “See? That wasn’t so bad, Damian.”

He tutted and took her hand in a firm shake only to realize he couldn’t retrieve it back from her.

“Okay! Come Damian, let’s go!” Maps took off with him in hand.

Dick could hear him trying to get her to let go, but they were gone around the corner before he could hear anything else. _Aww, I just got here! I wanted to spend more time._


	5. A Close Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian's fear comes to light as Maps' personal detective work lead to her first cave.

*****

The sun was just setting as she dragged him out far beyond the courtyard and into the grass before Damian ripped his hand from hers. She came to a halt and looked back at the disgruntled boy who was rubbing his hand.

“You do not need to drag me all the way to the yard.”

“Sorry, but I was just super excited! Besides, I got something in mind that I don’t want to share with your brother, even though he seems really cool.” Maps began to walk again further to the edge of the property while waving him to follow. He tagged closely behind now as they were beginning to fall into her usual weekend escapade.

“What exactly do you have in mind?”

She stopped approximately where she left off the previous week and turned to him, smiling wildly. “Okay, hear me out,” she lowered her voice before excitingly whispering, “I’m 75% sure Batman’s cave is around here!”

Damian felt a heavy weight sink to his stomach, his legs becoming stiff. “… What?”

“Okay, well maybe it’s closer to 67%, but I’m super positive that the entrance to his lair is around here somewhere.” Maps turned around and began walking along the edge of the estate. “It took me awhile to collect all the data, I lost so much sleep, and some of my homework too, but after half a year of following all the tracks and clues I could get my hands on, I think I narrowed it down.”

Maps couldn’t see it, but all the color drained from his face. His father may have been right, Damian’s arrogance may have blinded him from how determined she was and her true capacity for detective work. He didn’t expect this from her of all people but clearly, he had underestimated Maps’ ability in the field. A cold sweat formed on the back of his neck as the worry began to set in that his father had been correct and the risk of her knowing was too great.

When she realized that Damian wasn’t following her, she slowed to a stop and looked back, seeing his uneasy expression.

“… You don’t believe me, do you?”

Maps’ question threw him out of his distress and he refocused on her, “I didn’t say anything.”

Her tone was surprisingly calm compared to her usual rapid and energized sound, “I mean, with that face you kind’of don’t have to. Look, if you don’t believe me, that’s okay. It’s why I didn’t really want to say anything in front of your brother. Not that it would stop me or anything…” She didn’t continue. Maps seemed to be waiting.

“… I believe you. I am familiar with your skills enough… My question is what are you looking for?”

Her mood brightened considerably, “I’m so glad you asked! We are looking for some sort of secret entrance or cave opening. It’s somewhere in this area but I can’t tell if it’s actually on your property or not. By the way, I’ve been trespassing for a while, sorry.”

“I expect nothing less from you, Maps. You trespassed into my home with your schoolmates in the dead of night; in comparison, these events seem trivial.”

“Sorry about that, too!” Her smile had a hint of guilt.

“… Apologies begrudgingly accepted.”

Contrary to the sound of his soothed voice, Damian’s mind was racing, thinking of how to get out of this terrible situation. _Stopping her from investigating will be nearly impossible without confrontation or raising suspicion_ , he thought as he silently signaled her to lead the way. _I would rather not upset her with threats of throwing her off my property, not as though that would stop her nor would it make sense now._ Damian followed her over some large rocks and further into a small valley between the yard and the tree line whilst she began rambling on about becoming a Robin. _I could try to strike an agreement where we explore together but that would end up limiting my essential time and clearly welcoming her to the estate. Then there is the probable risk of her discovering an additional entrance to the cave not accessible by a fully grown adult or otherwise that we have neglected to find._ He saw Maps peek into a large thicket of tall grass and decided to pretend he was searching as well, looking behind some bushes alongside her. All Damian could do for the time being was let her ramble and lead while his mind flooded with half-baked ideas to stop her, that was until she made a certain comment.

“It would suck if we ended up finding a pretty cool cave that only led to a dead end. I mean, all that exploration to NOT lead to Batman, kind’of a bummer… but then again, we could turn it into our own lair! I guess it would technically be _your_ lair, but that’s fine.” Maps hopped onto a small boulder and jumped to the next set of rocks while glancing around, “What do you think about that? I always thought we would be a pretty good team. We could be a pair of Robins!”

 _It_ would _be a great disappointment if the cave ended in bedrock,_ Damian thought as an idea began forming in his mind. “I am highly trained in various forms of hand-to-hand combat as well as weapons. You happen to lack those highly needed skills for that sort of vigilante duty.”

“Come on, Damian. I was able to keep up with you when we were stuck holding hands, and that was pretty intense. Plus, I know how to use a grappling gun now and- oh… Oh! Oh!” She rushed past some trees into what looked like a ditch and vanished from Damian’s sight.

He quickly followed, uneasy at how close she was to discovering her first entrance without his additional supervision. As he approached, he could hear Maps howl in excitement and patter on wet stone. He peered down and saw a ragged opening past all the grass in the ditch, just barely able to see Maps’ beaming face in the darkness below.

“Oh, my carp, oh my god! Oh! My! Crap!”

“I hear you _loud_ and clear, Mizoguchi,” he stated as he focused on calming his heartrate. _No need to be alarmed._

He came in right to the edge of the entrance and saw Maps still collapsed, clearly seated on the wet rocky ground, knees bent in and hands braced behind her.

And for the first time, Damian finally noticed her. Looking down at Maps from his position revealed the small differences in her appearance since their last team-up after his expulsion. Maps’ hair had grown out enough to frame her face rather pleasantly while still being justly short, in his opinion, and her body was ostensibly more shapely built than he had last remembered.

Not surprising, Damian was given only a few seconds to observe before her personality broke his focus. She waved up excitingly at Damian and enthusiastically signaled him to come down. He rolled his eyes, snubbed his previous thoughts then dropped below, bracing as to not fall over like Maps did while silently showing his skills. She mumbled something about ‘having to teach her that’ then proceeded to get up, dusting off her hands and skirt.

From the entrance of the grotto came the setting sun shining in, only illuminating the cave’s wet ground directly below. Little bits of flashes reflected along the never-ending darkness, disappearing the further down it went. There was no real way to explore this passage without some additional light.

Damian gently touched the rock wall, taking note of how slick it was with water and bits of moss. “How do you plan on getting out of here? You didn’t seize any of your equipment and-”

“I don’t plan on getting out.”

“That is absurd, we still have a job to do.”

“Nah uh uh! 45 minutes promised! Now time to look,” Maps said and pulled up her skirt to reveal a palm size lantern-flashlight and what looked like a thin waist-pack attached to her leggings’ waistline. “Never go completely unprepared.” She removed the light and turned on the lantern segment of it, lighting up the immediate space.

From her waist-pack she pulled out a small ball of twine. Maps tied a big knot at the end of it and shoved it into a wall crack, checking to see it was lodged in securely. She waved him to join her along the cave. He tutted and begrudgingly followed her, regretting giving her time at all to go outside.

“How do you plan on recording this without your tools? We are going in headfirst into nothingness.” He knew this would not deter her from exploring, yet he was still curious as to what was going on in her head.

“Oh Damian,” Maps stopped and made another knot, “I love making maps, but I don’t need them right at the moment.” She turned to him and tapped her head, “I have a pretty good memory. If I can recite it, I can write it!”

“-tt-.”

Damian followed her along as the cave tunnel got longer and smaller, forking into different passages, twisting awkwardly around, up and down, with only her mini lantern to light the way. They stuck to the right as she knotted the twine every 15 paces or so and glanced behind to see the path of string. During their time in the cave, Maps tried to make small talk with Damian.

“Sooooo, did you know you had a cave on your yard?”

“No,” Damian answered dully.

“Oh, okay then… Have you ever thought about looking around your yard for caves or, like, other stuff?”

“No.”

His deadpan responses weren’t giving her much hope as they came to a spot where they needed to hop up onto a small ledge to advance forward. Maps wrestled to pull herself up as Damian watched the struggle from behind, his thoughts trying to drift elsewhere, but he stopped them again. He was interrupted from his pondering when Maps got up finally and offered her hand to him.

“Come on up!”

Damian clicked his tongue and gracefully leaped and pushed himself up onto the ledge without any complications, pressing on past her.

“… Well okay.” Maps huffed and quickly got up, catching up to his side. “Mmm do you ever go outside? You don’t act like an outdoorsy sort of kid, which is a shame looking at all the stuff you have to do outside.”

“Maps,” Damian caught her attention as he spoke, “Your attempts at idle chatter will fail. My interests for this evening lie with our task back at the manor. I am fulfilling the bare minimum of our deal.”

That stung Maps’ little adventurer heart a little too much and she let her hurt be known, “Fine, okay, I get the hint. You don’t wanna be pally-pals with me and just want me for my awesome mapping brain, I get it. But remember this, next time you ask for my help, I might just refuse it! My friendship is worthy of appreciation and you’re just being jerk to be a jerk. Your brother is cooler than you.” She thought a second more then said, “It’s no wonder you have no friends.”

The last comment struck a chord with Damian as he sighed, frustrated at being trapped with her in a tiny cave that only seems to be getting smaller as they progressed.

“Not that it concerns you, but I do in fact have confidants outside of my job as Ro- as a studious apprentice for my father’s work.”

Maps seemingly ignored his slip up as she asked, considerably more cheerful than before, “Oh oh oh! When can I meet your friends? Its only fair that I get to see them since, ya know, when you met my friends last time, you beat them all up… and my brother! By using me to knock him over. I definitely deserve to see your friends!”

Damian went silent, not even giving her a grunt in acknowledgement.

“What do ya say?” She asked again.

“I say we focus on this tunnel, less we lose focus and fall into a pit, dying where no one will ever find us.”

Maps harrumph but happily added, “You’ll think about it.”

With that they continued with the exploration.

As the time passed, the passage was starting to come to a narrow point, shrinking to only about 3 feet in diameter, and they were forced to crawl along the damp ground. He refused in the beginning, trying to convince Maps to turn around, but ultimately she won by just ignoring him and pushing through. Damian followed reluctantly behind her, grumbling his discontent.

The narrow shaft went on longer than either had suspected but Maps refused to back down.

“I think we need to discontinue this ridiculous search; we’re not getting anywhere, and it seems we will come to a point where we can no longer move forward, possibly even getting stuck.” Damian was becoming uneasy as he noticed Maps not slowing down.

“Come on! It’s going to open up anytime now! I can feel it.” She crept on as the tunnel got smaller, knotting the last bit of twine she had left.

“I’m serious, this is becoming hazardous!” He came to a stop, but she kept moving. “Maps!”

“Hold on! I feel a breeze, I swear!”

“Maps! Stop!”

“Will you relax-“

“Damn it!” Damian reached out and grabbed her ankle.

She squeaked, startled by the action and dropped her light as he latched onto her leg with the strength of a boa. Maps saw her lantern bounce further then completely fall down into a hole just about a yard ahead. They went completely silent; Damian waiting for Maps to say something and Maps waiting for the sound of the lamp hitting ground. She was counting the seconds then heard the tiniest crash.

“We have lift off! Okay, you climb back. I’ll reverse crawl.”

Damian wanted to be infuriated with her, reprimand her for her curiosity, for getting too close, but there was no way to do such a thing as he had to pretend that he was partaking in her exploration. “-tt-,“ Damian clicked his tongue as he started to push himself back, but then came to a stop. “… Can you move?”

“Yeah, of course.” Though it was pitch black, he could tell she was struggling. “… Yeah, I can.” She sounded annoyed now and struggled some more. “… Damian, can you just, like, gently pull me back a few inches?”

He sighed and grabbed her ankle again, “You best be prepared, this is not going to be pleasant for you.”

Damian pulled her back, her body dragging against the ragged rock, enough where Maps could finally get some room to start pushing herself back. The action scraped her elbows and knees, but she didn’t complain. They eventually came back out into the spacious part of the passage, standing up and dusting themselves off in the black darkness.

“I suggest we move to our left and use the wall to climb back up… Maps?”

“Hold on.” He heard some rustling then a crack. “Yes!”

There slowly came a dim glow from a small tube, the blue luminosity growing over the passing seconds. Maps handed it to him and cracked another one, this time glowing green. From the little light emitted by the two glowsticks, she could see his dumbfounded expression and he could see her elated smile.

“… These barely expend enough light to show the cave.”

“Enough to see our feet!” Maps scuffed her shoes happily.

Damian rolled his eyes and sighed. Maps began to walk, passing him and following the string back down the cave system. He started to tail her when she turned around to face him, carefully walking backwards.

“It’s hard to see anything. Did you wanna hold hands or something?”

Damian was taken aback by the offer but recovered shorty after. “Why would I want that? I got stuck to you by way of locked hands for a whole day, more than enough for me.” He began to catch up to Maps, staring past her.

“Well geez, it’s super dark and we don’t have any real light, I figured it would be a good idea.” Damian began to pass, clearly ignoring her. “Ya know, like a buddy system?” She said but then tripped, not noticing the uneven ground. He didn’t wait for her.

“I am not a child, and neither are you.”

“You are a child! You’re two years younger than me, no need to act like a jerk who thinks he’s more mature than everyone else.”

“I am thirteen. A _teen_ ager. Not a child.”

“Whatever, forget that I suggested it.” She huffed, trotting and catching up to him. “We’re almost halfway to the exit anyway.”

He could hear the discontent in her voice and ignored the strange meager feeling he had in the bottom of his gut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to sketch out pictures of everyone so I can upload and show you guys how i see the characters now.  
> We'll see if I can do it.


	6. What do you mean?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The teens return back to the manor and bring new worries to Dick. Alfred, on the other hand, couldn't seem to care. What's one more?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise that this chapter's pace is a bit fast. I had some struggles with writing it.

******

Dick had everything ready for his patrol but was waiting on Damian and Maps’ return before heading out. It’s not that he didn’t trust him, Dick just wanted to catch up with Damian before heading out for the night. He genuinely wanted to see Damian after being gone from the manor for so long. While the kids were out, he had been chatting with Alfred and seeing how Tim was doing over the comms. From the clock entrance, Dick walked through the house back to the rear foyer to peer out the window, hoping to see them returning before he headed out. _Nothing, absolutely nothing_ , he thought to himself as he glanced over the courtyard. He walked to the kitchen where he saw Alfred preparing some tea for himself.

“Do you have enough for another cup?” Dick asked.

“Of course, Master Dick. Will you be leaving soon?” Alfred poured a second cup and gave it to him.

“Yeah. I was hoping they’d be back by now. It’s almost been 45 minutes and Damian’s not one to be late.”

“Worried, sir?”

“Naw, I know he can take care of himself and his friend. Besides, what kind of trouble could they get in the backyard? It’s not like-“

The slamming of the back door from the conservatory room interrupted Dick, then came Damian’s voice, “Pennyworth, I need your immediate medical assistance.”

“Shush! It’s not even that bad,” Maps lightly scolded him then shouted, “Can you bring a paper and pencil for me Mr. Pennyworth! I’m totally fine!”

Dick looked over at Alfred who simply hummed, giving Dick a knowing look. Dick rolled his eyes amusingly while grabbing a sheet of paper and pencil, walking towards the back door with Alfred right behind him, first aid in hand. They closed in on the squabbling kids and the two men got a better look at them. Damian seemed mostly fine with only his clothes a mess, soaked and mud smudged along the knees, stomach and forearms. Maps on the other hand was almost completely soaked with only her head and shoulders dry. She had torn leggings, showing bruised and terribly scraped knees, the blood staining the gray clothing, while her elbows and forearms had shallow cuts along the length of them.

Dick hurried over to her, interrupting their bickering, “Oh my god, what happened? Did you fall off a cliff or something? Geez.”

“Or something!” Maps said in delight, ignoring Damian’s scuff. “You won’t believe what I found!”

“ _We_ found. Before anything is mentioned, I would like to clarify that I have everything under control.”

“ _I_ found! I did all the work, but I’ll give you credit for helping me out of the hole,” she smirked, grabbing the paper and pencil from Dick then followed Alfred to a chair so he could begin to clean her up. “Really, Mr. Pennyworth, I’m fine. I’m more than fine! Let me tell you!”

“I’m quite sure that you are a hearty young lady, but I have to agree with the young sir. You need immediate attention, or these might become infected.” He wet a cotton ball and began wiping down her knees. “I would hate to see any of these develop into a festering wound.”

“It’s her own fault. She was unnecessarily reckless.”

“Damian, how did this happen?” Dick asked.

“We-“

“I found a cave!” Maps cut the boy short. “I mean, I’m totally happy with sharing some credit with you, because we’re the Ultimate Power Team and you’re my friend, but you didn’t do the research. That was all me!” Her smile stretched from ear to ear as she began scribbling on the sheet of paper.

Alfred only paused a moment before continuing with her medical care. Dick glanced over at Damian, something uneasy in his stare made Damian look elsewhere and mumbled something about needing clean clothes.

Maps recounted their entire tour, starting from her explanation and research, as well as her apologies for trespassing, to their discovery and exploration of the small cave system, including how she got some of the scrapes. She mentioned her theory on how it must open up to a full cavern where Batman _must_ be hiding out and how they need to prepare for next time, finally coming to an end where she was explaining her escape from the hole, Damian making short and curt corrections all throughout the entire story. Dick kept looking over at Damian throughout the story, a charming smile on his face but alarm filling his eyes. Maps didn’t notice, too focused jotting on the paper and directing most of her story to Alfred as he was right in front of her, Alfred not startled at all from her story and only commenting on how brave and adventurous she was.

“-then I started to climb up the rock wall in all its rugged glory, like I was Catwoman or something-“

“You slipped and slammed your knees against the rock. I would hardly call that graceful.”

“Still, I was pretty cool-“

“You needed my help.”

“Hush! I would’ve gotten out fine.” Maps stuck her tongue out at him then finished her story. “After that, we ran all the way back! It was awesome, I know.” She smiled, clearly proud of this adventure while focused on her drawing.

“That’s… that’s quite the venture to have, all in our backyard too!” Dick smiled and patted her back. “Hey, I’ll be right back, Al. I’m going to take Damian to get a change of clean clothes.” The boy was about to retaliate but Dick ignored him and asked Maps, “Did you want to barrow something? I’m sure I can find something your size.”

“I’m good, but thanks!”

“Alrighty. Be back in a flash!” He finger-gunned both Maps and Alfred.

With that Dick wrapped his arm around Damian’s shoulders and walked off, somewhat pushing the boy along. Maps immediately turned to Alfred and began to talk off his ear, interspersing her appreciation for bandaging up all her scrapes. Once they were out of ear shot heading toward the great foyer, Dick leaned close to the boy, his demeaner changed.

“What the hell is going on? Is this what Bruce grounded you for? How did this all happen?” He wasn’t frustrated, but there was a hint of wariness in his voice.

Damian rolled his eyes while dusting off Dick’s arm, “As I said before, I have this under control.”

Dick made a strangled noise, combing his fingers through his hair. “How is this under control? She pulled a Tim! Tracked us down and is on the verge of discovering the cave, and you’re helping her do it too.”

“Hardly. I feel no need to do something ridiculous like that, Grayson. That was adequate of Drake at that time, but not something she can ever do.” They both approached the staircase and started up the steps. “She will never discover our hideout.”

“She kind of already did-“

“No, she has not.” When they reached the top, Damian stopped Dick in his tracks. “She will instead help me find any neglected entrances to the cave.”

Dick eyed him strangely when he said, “Elaborate.”

Damian smirked, more to himself than anyone else, and headed towards his room. “Quite ingenious if I do say so myself. She gets to play out her fantasies while I get to secure the cave further from any future slipups like this.”

“I… what?” Dick stopped in the second-floor hallway a few paces from Damian’s room. “Okay, okay. I get it…”

Damian entered his room glancing behind at Dick, confusion clear on his face. “And? It seems there is more on your mind about the subject.”

Dick hung out in the doorway, arms crossed. “Well, she’s your friend. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t guard the Batcave, and this plan is pretty good, great even, but it also seems… I don’t know, kind of like exploitation of her trust in you?”

The boy tossed his dirty clothes and walked into his closet, clearly frustrated with Dick’s implications. “She is hardly a friend, Richard. An acquaintance would be more appropriate.”

“Well, that’s not what she calls you.”

“I do not care what she calls me. I was set to do a task and I am fulfilling it and going beyond.” He came out dressed in clean clothes.

“Yeah, but for what? From my perspective, it looks like she genuinely wants to hang out with you and you’re taking advantage of her interests to stop her from revealing our location, which is good. But then what, you don’t ever talk to her again?”

“Possibly-“

“Come on! This is a great opportunity to just hang out and relax, be a kid-“

“Why would I ever want to be a kid? To part take in fruitless make believe that helps no one?” He huffed and began to walk towards Dick, ready to pass by him in the doorway. “We both know I am capable far more than just simple play.”

Dick stopped him by placing an arm between himself and the doorframe. “… Can you try? For me?”

He tutted at Dick and was about to respond when their conversation was interrupted by Maps walking through the foyer, calling out their names. They both came to the railing and looked over to see her waving around her sheet of paper, asking for them to join her. The boys came down the stairs grouping again with her while Alfred came by with a tray of fresh lemonade.

“For you, Miss Maps.”

“Thank you, Mr. Pennyworth!” She grabbed her drink.

Damian mentally rolled his eyes. “What is it that you want that it could not wait for us to join you back in the conservatory?”

“My map, of course!” She shoved her drawing into his hands and took a long drink from her glass before speaking again. “It’s not as accurate since it’s all from memory, but I think it’ll do for next time.”

As Damian looked over the sketch, Dick asked, “Next time?”

“Yeah, next time! This was so fun, and I think we’re actually getting somewhere.”

Dick was about to ask further when she grabbed Damian’s arm and dragged him off back to the collections room. He was left with Alfred in the foyer, staring after them. They shared glances, Dick looking wary and Alfred looking quite done with the whole situation.

Once the two teens came back into the collection room, Maps let go of Damian and went diving into her things that she had left. She delved into her backpack searching through it while Damian, once catching his breath, went back to looking at her homemade map. Definitely not the best-looking, but the attention to details like distance, rough location, measurements, and descriptions got his attention. The proportions were slightly off, but it was enough where he, and his Father, could work from it. She came back to him with highlighters and a sharpie, coughing to get his attention.

“May I see my map again? I want to do some final touches on it.”

Damian spoke as he handed her the sheet back, “It’s… done competently.”

“I think I did a pretty great job for drawing just from memory!” Maps took it to the coffee table and uncapped a yellow and blue highlighter, sitting down and starting to color it. “You can have a copy of it if you want.”

Damian squinted his eyes at her, not quite sure what to make of the offer. He thought about stealing it from her so she wouldn’t have the map for unsupervised exploration, but something about what Dick said made him disregard his original plan and think of something else.

“… I… would be very interested in a copy of your drawing.”

“Knew it! Well, I’m almost done. Come here and look at what I’m doing.” She scooted over on the couch, making room for Damian to sit. He walked over but didn’t sit down until Maps grabbed his sleeve and pulled him down. “See? I wanted to indicate the depth of it all.”

He was careful not to lean too much into Maps, trying to avoid the warmth, and looked to see her work. “You are adding topographical elements to detail it further?”

“Well, you may not have noticed, but I tripped in there. I figured if I’m coming back next weekend, I’ll need to note about it.” She capped her highlighters and moved on to her sharpie. “This is for the sharp edges in there.”

“Next weekend?”

As they continued to talk, Dick stood outside of the door, out of sight from the teens, with Alfred next to him against the butler’s will. He looked over at Alfred, giving him a quizzical look, eyebrows raised in concern. Alfred simply tilted his nose up and turned away, trying to give the two some privacy.

\--

Things went surprisingly well for them both for the rest of the night. She finished her map so he could make a copy of it and then she finished her job that Damian had invited her over for. To Maps, it went great; now she doesn’t have to illegally trespass onto Damian’s property, she has him involved with the investigation, which will make this go by so much faster, and she doesn’t need to sneak out anymore, he has her covered. For Damian, he has oversight of everything she does on his estates now, nothing will get by him, and she will inadvertently help him find all possible access to the cave, which goes beyond simply kicking her off his land. The pitfalls for both is having to wait for next weekend, which was a bigger bummer for Maps than it was for Damian.

She was all packed up and ready to go waiting in the grand mudroom for Alfred. Damian was there with Maps to see her off when they drive off back to Gotham Academy. Suddenly, something occurred to the girl.

Maps looked up from the bench and asked, “So, did you ever get the answer?”

Damian raised a brow in confusion, “To what question? I assure you that I have answered every question you had this evening to the best of my-“

“No no no, not about tonight. I’m talking about my letter!”

“… Oh. _That_ question.”

“Wait, what do you mean, _that_ question? It’s a good question! I’m sure it stumped you.”

“I have not thought about it since that afternoon-“

“I did stump you!”

“No, you did not.”

“I definitely did.”

“No, you didn’t! I refuse to encourage your infantile behavior. In addition, there is nothing you have that I cannot get myself. I am the son of Bruce Wayne; I could purchase the Academy if I wanted, if it offered any benefits to do so.” He crossed his arms in defiance.

She smiled at him and said, “You’ll never know if you don’t try. I’ll give you a hint of what I might have that you can’t get.”

Something about her smile made him flustered. He tensed and relaxed his arms trying to calm his mind before speaking, “I have no interest.”

Her smile grew, “You can’t buy it. As in you can NOT buy it anywhere! Stores, black market, nothin’! And it can only be found here in Gotham.” She hopped up and approached the door, hearing the car outside start up. “There’s no time limit on the question, you can take your time, but you can’t go searching for it on the internet either! You gotta figure it out on your own.”

“-tt-,” he clicked his tongue at her and watched as the door opened, Alfred on the other side ready to walk Maps to the car.

He watched Alfred and her from the doorframe as they got to the passenger door when suddenly she whipped around and charged back, skipping up the stairs to Damian, giving him a quick embrace and a hasty thanks for inviting her over before returning to the vehicle. He never got the chance to process the farewell to respond, completely standing still as he watched Maps press up against the tinted windows waving fiercely at him as Alfred got into the driver’s seat and drove off back to the Academy. Damian stared off into the distant before pressing the garage button and returning inside.

He came to the grandfather clock and opened the secret entrance, walking down into the cave, the lights coming on automatically with each step he took. From his pocket he took out his copy of Maps’ drawing, turning it around in his hands to correct for directional difference. Once the map was positioned properly, Damian figured out which part of the cave their passage would have led to and he proceeded to go to the first sublevel which stretched further into his target area than the main level did. As Damian approach closer to where the map left off at, he began looking around, inching closer to the cliff edge. He folded the copy and put it back into his front pocket as his focused on looking around, scanning the dark cave cliffs for a hint of something.

“So, how’d your date go?” Tim’s voice came from the main level above.

“Shut your mouth, Drake.” Damian thoughtlessly replied back before saying, “It was not a date. Why are you back so soon?”

“Stopped Scare-crew’s raid at the chem plant pretty quick, but still don’t know where Scarecrow is hiding. Came back to do some more research,” Tim explained then asked, “What are you doing? Did you drop your friend down the abyss?”

“No,” Damian said flatly, “She went back home. I am busy looking for something down-…”

Damian abruptly stopped speaking and knelt, peering over the edge down into the cavern where something gleamed from a small ledge below off the cave wall. He stood back up and looked directly above him at the cave’s roof, ignoring Tim’s attempts to question him. It took him a few moments, but he finally spotted the shallow, narrow opening where Maps and he would have been earlier if he hadn’t stopped her from crawling to her death.

He smiled smugly to himself before walking back, flipping out his cell and saying, “Drake, stop bothering me. I am about to become remarkably busy.”

“… Why are you like this?”


	7. Back at the Dorm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maps catches up with Katherine and Olive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short. Computer died and need a new one. Won't update until I get a computer.  
> Sorry for the short chapter.

*******

“And to top it all off, we’re going to get several artifact donations from the Wayne foundation! I’m so psyched! Though, Damian wouldn’t let me touch them, even if I wore gloves and a mask.” Maps finished telling her story to Katherine and Olive, the former already drifting off to sleep, slowly losing her form and melting on her bed. Olive was leaning her head on her knees, her eyes half open. “Kathy, you’re melting.”

“Huh? Wha?” She jerked awake, regaining her figure again before saying, “Yeah, yeah, that’s really good. I can’t wait to see the maps.” She yawned and got up, walking over to her bookshelf where the empty fishbowl was. “I think it’s time for bed. It’s already going on 11.”

“I’m with her. I mean, it sounds like you had a great time and you got yourself a lead… but we’re both pretty tired.” Olive said.

Maps exclaimed, “It’s a Friday! We have the whole night to do stuff.”

Katherine looked wearily at her, “I know, it’s just been tough for me trying to cover for you and tonight I finally got a break, but I’m still so tired…” She looked at Maps and could see the tinge of guilt on her face. “Not that I mind covering for you! Don’t get me wrong!”

“Oh my gawd, I’m so sorry!” Maps bawled.

“You don’t need to be-“

“Maps, calm down-“

Olive and Katherine were both interrupted by Maps. “I can’t believe I’ve been such a terrible friend!”

“I don’t mind-,“ Katherine tried to talk but Maps leapt from her bed and nearly tackled her into a tight hug, her form giving way so Maps melted into her flesh a bit. “Hey, watch out! I might collapse.”

“I’m gonna make it up, I swear! I’ll take you out to the best Bat Pizza place there is!” Maps whipped around and faced Olive, “For you, too! For everyone!”

“Come on, it’s okay.” Katherine patted her back while still trying to hold her shape. “Let’s just rest for tonight and- whoa!”

Maps dragged Katherine with her to Olive where they collapsed onto the poor junior year student, Maps trying to hug them both. Olive got buried under Maps and part of Katherine, as the clay form finally gave way from where Maps was embracing her, so her top half joined them in the group hug while her legs were left behind to stand on their own. Katherine spouted unending apologies while Maps garbled something about pizza and Olive sighed exasperated. The mess of a conversation didn’t end until all three passed out later that night.

While the Academy was quiet that night, Damian was plotting and sending a text to an important asset of his to move his plans forward.


	8. There's Work to be Done and An Investigation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian gets his important asset to come help him in the cave while Tim catches up with Bruce briefly then ponders on his current case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still do not have a laptop but wanted to try and give you guys a good-sized chapter while working towards a computer.  
> Introduction to real plot, yay.

********

A huge yawn escaped the young farm boy’s mouth before he spoke, rubbing his eyes clean of sleep, “I get that this is important or whatever, but couldn’t your dad’s cave remodeling be done at a better time… Like, I don’t know, NOT this Sunday morning when I have chores to do and have patrol with Dad later.” Jon stationed himself in the air gently floating beside his friend. “And did you have to alert me at 11 at night? I know it was a Friday but I still have a curfew, man.”

“I’m not certain if I would have the time for such leisure considering how unpredictable that girl can be.”

“Wait, what girl?” Jon asked.

Damian quietly sneered something about Alfred then spoke up. “A nosy and infantile girl I’ve met before and that I was tricked into inviting here.”

“Huh.”

Damian hung anchored to the cave walls with ropes, feet hooked into some small ledges and a chalk marker in hand. “Back to work; I have to close that entrance off from human access. There will need to be a small opening for the bats to continue to travel in and out, as well as allowing for continuity.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jon nodded then scrunched his face in confusion, and curiosity got the better of him. “… So, why haven’t I ever heard of this friend of yours before?”

Damian marked a spot on the wall then climbed to a different location, speaking with a tone of annoyance, “We’re not friends. She is an acquaintance I met at the Academy-“

“You’ve been to school before, too? Why didn’t you ever mention that?”

“It’s not pertinent to our work or partnership. Focus.”

Jon huffed and leaned his hands on his hips before mumbling, “Well, I think it’s pertinent.”

It was silent for a few minutes as Damian climbed around marking the cave wall, drawing out the plan for Jon to carve out a piece of rock from the surface. The boy watched his friend swing around, mumbling about precision and risk of collapsing the lair as Jon comfortably floated around, always staying within catching distance of his friend, even though Jon knew Damian would never ask for his assistance, ever so confident in his own skills. Jon casually followed his friend around the rocky wall but his mind was still on the this mysterious girl.

After more time passed, Jon spoke up, “So, what’s her name? I imagine she’s nice. Must be if she willingly came over to hang out… She did willingly come over, right?”

Damian paused mid marking; displeasure clear upon his face. “J… I have no interest in talking about this. I don’t know why you are suddenly interested in my past student life, but it does not relate to the mission at hand, so _focus._ ”

“I am focusing, I am, but can’t I be a little curious and get to know your ‘acquaintances’ outside of all this superhero stuff? I mean, I got to meet Maya. You’ve seen my friends.”

“Why does it even matter? Are you bothered by the fact that you are not the only child I know?” Damian taunted Jon while he placed his last mark on the wall before unclipping himself from the ropes and launching off the wall into the air.

Jon swooped in and caught him.

“Can’t you give me a warning before doing something like that?” He plopped himself and Damian down on the sublevel floor then crossed his arms and cocked his hip out in spite of his friend. “I mean, seriously, you could’ve just fell straight to the ground to your death.”

“That would never happen,” Damian stated plainly.

“And why’s that?”

“You’ll always catch me,” he paused for a moment before adding awkwardly, “Duh.”

Jon made a face at him and said, “Well, maybe next time I won’t catch you and then you’ll learn!”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“I could totally do it!”

“Please, Jon. You couldn’t kill a fly, let alone let a human drop to their death, notably your best friend.”

“Ugh!” Jon swung his arms into the air, agitated with his Damian’s taunts. “You just don’t want me wondering about your outside life, fine! I’ll move on from that. I’ll do my job here and get going.”

Remorse washed over Damian as Jon went back into the air and positioned himself appropriately for carving the rock out of the wall. As he started to heat up his laser vision, Damian ordered him to stop. Startled, Jon’s eyes reverted to normal and he looked down to his friend on the ground. Something in his eyes told Jon that he wanted him to come back and so Jon did. The boy came down and gently landed on the ground before Damian. They stood there for a moment, neither one saying anything until Jon turned around again to fly back into the air.

“I don’t have a civilian life.” Damian’s voice stopped Jon in his tracks. It sounded composed, but there was an underlining edge to it, some uneasiness to it. “It seems tedious to have such an alter ego.”

Jon turned back to meet him, clear sympathy on his face. Damian froze momentarily, unsure how to decipher his look. Even with being friends for so long, even with having real guidance and care from Dick, Alfred, and his own father, it was still disconcerting when those who were close to Damian would pity him. Jon could sense the tension and casually placed his hand on Damian’s shoulder, allowing gravity to give it a good pat. He could feel Damian relax under his palm and took it as a sign to proceed.

“Do you like playing video games with me?”

Damian became confused. “Yes?”

“What about sleepovers?”

“For the most part, yes. At some point, I would like you to get an appropriate guest bed if I’m constantly forced to stay at your farm.”

Jon ignored the comment and asked on, “And when we go investigating?”

“Yes, yes. Get to your point, Kent.”

“Is any of that tedious to you?”

Damian stood there, eyes drifting down for only a moment then reconnecting with Jon’s. He could see Damian’s jaw tighten and relax, a thousand thoughts a second passing through the teen’s mind before finally responding, “You are tedious… But if you’re questioning our partnership, I will let you know now, there is nothing laborious about it.” He paused again then spoke, “I do not regret any of it.”

Jon smiled brightly. “There you go!” Damian rolled his eyes, yet Jon continued, “There are tough times between you and I, and sometimes it seems… difficult, but you don’t regret it and I don’t regret it… And that includes all the fun we have together too, not just the superhero stuff.” He grasps Damian’s other shoulder, now bracing both and facing him fully. “Sooo, what’s up about this ‘acquaintance’ of yours?”

A growl escaped Damian’s lips before responding, rather reluctantly, “… I would categorize her more tiresome than you, and possibly more infantile too, all while being our senior.”

“Senior?”

“She’s 15.”

“Oh wow! That’s kind’a cool.” Jon let go of Damian and took a few steps back. “So, what you’re telling me is that she’s a fun teenager to hangout with.”

“That is not what I said.”

“I mean, she sounds kind’a smart too, if this is how you ended up.” Jon motioned to the whole rock carving fiasco. He floated up again, traveling over to the marked-up wall. “How _did_ you get in this situation? And when do I get to meet her?”

Damian grumbled again then said, “I underestimated her single-mindedness, and never.”

He went on to describe his predicament with Maps, how Bruce had removed him from missions and limited patrols, so on and so forth. As Jon started to zap the chalk spots, shooting short and precise shots, Damian explained his previous encounters with her, excluding some details that his friend may or may not need to hear (like the fact that him and Maps were stuck holding hands for an entire day). Explained how she has a strong fascination with everything Batman and how that led to her six month long investigation of tracking the Batmobile, the Robin cycle, and sightings of the team leading to her narrowing down the possible location of the Batcave.

Jon was listening so intently to the point that he overshot a marked area, opening him up to Damian’s quick criticism but it didn’t last long as Damian went back to venting about his new situation and if Bruce will allow him back on missions once he presents his plan to him.

Bruce’s presence has been lacking since the last time Damian spoke to him, as his father had some corporate and vigilante work across the globe and was going to be out for the next upcoming week or so. This left the work in Gotham up to the previous Robins, including the ‘off the rails’ Redhood. Though Damian wasn’t too fond of the idea of having them all overlooking the operations here, it was better than having Bruce lurk about as Damian tries to block off alternative entrances around the cave.

As Jon was firing off the last few marks, a shout echoed down the cave from the ground level above. Jon went rigid like a child caught doing something wrong while Damian tutted, his eyebrows knotted in frustration.

“What are you doing down there!” Tim’s voice echoed.

“Ugh, not this again.” Damian rolled his eyes as he waved Jon to land next to him.

“I swear, I leave for a few hours to handle the stockholders and I come back to you and your friend destroying the cave!” They can hear his footsteps circle the upper level before disappearing into the elevator.

“Do not worry. I got this.” He patted Jon’s shoulder.

\--

Earlier, same Sunday.

“Yes. Everything went well, Bruce,” Tim said into his bluetooth as he descended down the steps of Wayne Enterprise Tower. “The Shanxi shareholders are still trying to push for a corporate government branch to allow us access in China but that was shot down. I keep telling you, they won’t allow for a private Chinese branch without that regime being implemented.”

“Tim, save it for the memo. What about Teamsters Union? Anything from them?” Bruce asked from the other line.

“I don’t think they’re owned by the Penguin. I investigated their background, and nothing came up besides some limited investments they made into a joint group about 8 months ago, but that didn’t lead to anything. I’ll keep looking into it, but I think I’ll have Steph stake it out. She’ll know what to look for.” Tim approached Alfred at the sleek black car and entered the passenger seat, nodding to his butler in gratitude.

“Take another look into that joint group again; go to their office, see if there’s any under the table finances going on. A stake out may not be enough.”

He quietly sighed. “Bruce, that would require more than just Steph on this mission. The Penguin has been upping his security since your guys’ last run in and I don’t want to send her in alone if he’s involved with Teamsters, but I can’t just drop Scarecrow to handle this too. He’s becoming more erratic with his attacks, sometimes even revisiting previous labs, and that’s been more than a hand full to say the least.” Alfred could hear the older teen’s stress as he peered into the rearview mirror and witnessed the strain on Tim’s expression as he talked to Bruce before starting the car and pulling into the downtown traffic.

“What about asking Duke or Dick to cover Stephanie?”

Tim rubbed his forehead out of frustration as he said, “Duke’s got day shift and is doing overtime thanks to classes while Dick has his hands full with covering for yours and Damian’s absence on the streets while also trying to cover in Bludhaven.” Then it clicked. “… Why not allow Damian to cover for her this one time. That kid is probably pent up and needs a little freedom besides the limited patrols.”

“Hm,” was all he got from Bruce.

“Come on, it’s just this one time and she needs the back up.”

He could feel the deliberation going on in Bruce’s head during the moment of silence.

“… This one time and that’s all he’s doing.”

_Oh thank god_! Tim thought before saying, “Perfect. He’ll be ecstatic.”

“This. One. Time.” Bruce emphasized then continued, “With that settled, I also want you to inform Fox to have his team draft up an investor function two months from now. Possibly a fundraiser or something, keep it superficial. I want to keep them off guard and see what they’re willing to say in casual gossip with me.”

“Sounds like you won’t be coming back for a while.”

“I will but only for a week and a half. My investigation here is coming to a standstill thanks to the Chief of MIIT and MPS.” He sounded stoic but Tim could read between the lines; Bruce was frustrated with the bureaucratic hell that he was being put through in Beijing at the moment, especially as CEO of Wayne Enterprise.

Tim asked facetiously, “Does that mean there’ll be a visit by a masked fiend?”

“Hrrn.”

_Oookay, no humor_ , the older teen thought as he finished the call. “Well, good luck. I told you they won’t let you have any real access unless you enter into those suicidal loan traps.”

“Alert the others of my extended absence and keep a close eye on Damian. He’s stubborn.”

“Wonder where he got it from,” muttered Tim as he opened his laptop and propped it on his knees.

“Hm.” And Bruce ended the call.

Alfred adjusted the mirror and glanced back before clearing his throat, “Everything going swimmingly, Master Timothy?”

“On the surface, Alfred, everything is going great. The meeting went good, interests are good, three potential investments and a buyout is in the prospects… but…” Tim trailed off as he looked up the recent break-ins by Scarecrow’s crew. Nothing about these attacks matched the rogue’s usual motives and none of the chemicals or research notes were taken during the assaults either; just some basic equipment that could be bought at your local pharmacy and nothing else. It was starting to bother him, the fact that he and his gang were able to keep slipping from Tim’s grasp wasn’t helping the stress either.

“Was there an end to that thought or did you want me to guess?” Alfred teased as he came to a bend in the road and turned.

Tim pulled up a few more articles about some of the stings at the research labs before responding, “Sorry, just trying to get a lead on Scarecrow. And Bruce wants me to keep an eye out on this Teamsters group, but I have a feeling they’re not the ones we should be looking at. None of the holders there had any real connections with the Penguin; all just small investments or one-time contracts that deal with real work, nothing shady or sketchy… but maybe I’m just overlooking things.”

The butler made another turn down a road to classy strip shop and pulled up to the curb of a high-end coffee shop. “Not everything will be on the books, sir. Some things will have to be examined closely.” He puts the car in park. “But don’t let the problem exhaust you.”

“I know, I know. But I can’t allow myself to get too relaxed.” The older teen started skimming through the article he had pulled up.

“Please try not to have these stresses consume you. The last thing we need is another Batman, and I for one appreciate you for who you are.”

“Thanks, but that’s easier said than done.” He sighed.

Alfred took a deep breath then moved on, asking him, “Would you like your usual, or the cappuccino with two extra shots?”

Tim closed the article and moved onto the next one, responding, “Cappuccino with extra shots. If I’m going to be stuck researching, I might as well treat myself, Alfred.”

The older man gave a curt nod and exited the car, leaving him alone to research.

The articles didn’t help at all, especially the local news that reported on some of these lab attacks. The bias was thick through the writing and heavily opinionated as he grazed, one in particular implied heavily that these break-ins were directly Batman’s fault and used their own opinion to force intention even though there was no evidence to support it. The headache starting to set in, and if it wasn’t the lack sleep he got last night at fault, it was probably due to his lack of coffee. Tim closed the last couple of articles, reserving his in-depth research for when he returns home to use the cave computer; there he could search into the actual labs interface and see if any of them were testing and studying anything that went up Scarecrow’s alley. _It just didn’t make sense_. His MO is using his knowledge on psychology, toxin, and venom to steal money and jewels, or to get revenge on those who wronged him. Busting into labs, wrecking the place up and barely stealing anything is nothing like Scarecrow and it was starting to drain Tim. The teen had already deep dived into one of the labs that was attacked and couldn’t find a single clue of what the rogue would have wanted besides the basic chemicals he used for his own concoctions; nothing the lab was working on had to do with manipulating the psychological conditions of humans through synthetic or natural means. The lab’s focus was studying certain facets of domestication for birds, to try and utilize to raise the population of certain avian species.

_What could he possibly be looking for_?

Tim’s focus was broken when a knock came from the passenger window and he rolled it down to reveal Alfred standing there with his drink ready.

“Thanks, Al.”

“You’re quite welcomed.” Alfred proceeded to the driver’s seat and buckled himself in, starting the car. “I hope I didn’t disturb you at a crucial point in your deliberation about the case at hand.”

“Not at all. I’m kind of at a loss for the moment. I’m hoping the more labs I look into, the more of a lead I’ll have with him, but something tell me it won’t be that easy.”

“Then shall we head back?”

A hum was the only thing that left Tim. With that, Alfred left the curb and entered back into traffic, now on their way back home. And sadly, for Tim, to a rude awakening thanks to Damian and Jon.


End file.
